Fantasy Archive

Dragon Con Invades Atlanta

Except, unlike Sherman’s march to the sea or the ’96 Olympic Games, the costumed fans, actors, authors, directors, artists, etc. will be a lot less stressful for Hotlanta. Over Labor Day Weekend, September 3 through the 6th, Dragon Con will be in full effect with all things sci fi, fantasy and horror on display.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dragon Con, it is the largest multimedia popular culture convention dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, film, gaming, comics, art and music. It is a blast and if you’ve never been, I suggest going at least one time.

This year’s featured events include the annual Dragon Con parade, Awards Banquet, a charity auction for the Lupus Foundation, autograph sessions and a Scientific Paranormal Investigation workshop. They also have an annual film festival that rocks.

If you decide to attend, you’ll have the opportunity to meet such personalities as horror actress Danielle Harris (Halloween), Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th), Luke Perry (Jeremiah), Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13), Michelle Forbes (True Blood) as well as Vampire Babylon author, Chris Marie Green and Laurell K. Hamilton, author of the Anita Blake series.

I love conventions. They are such an awesome way to find out more about your fave books, films, games, etc. Most of all, it’s a great way to connect with others who geek out like you do over F/X, films, comics, etc. I would love, love to be going to this year’s Dragon Con. I haven’t been in over 8 years and I’ve missed it.

Horror at The Fantastic Fest

Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the sixth edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 23-30 in Austin, Texas.

This batch of 13 feature films includes bloody revenge from Korea and Australia, South African and German zombies, Swedish musical terrorists, a renaissance of action heroes from Hong Kong, more disturbing images from Serbia, aging Yakuza from Japan and a psychokinetic automobile tire from France.

Fantastic Fest is scouring the globe for the very best in action, horror, science fiction, fantasy to the truly bizarre in contemporary cinema for your viewing pleasure. Look for many more announcements in the weeks to come, including information on our gala events, parties and AMD Next Wave filmmakers in attendance.

Fantastic Fest is the film festival with the boring parts cut out. Miss this one and your regrets will agonize you for years to come. You have been warned.

Bedevilled (2010)
Director: Cheol-soo Jang, South Korea, 115 minutes
If you beat, brutalize, dehumanize and torment a country girl for her entire life, take note: when she reaches the breaking point, you’d best hide the farm implements.

Corridor (2009)
Directors: Johan Lundborg & Johan Storm, Sweden, 80 min
Lonely medical student Frank is pleased with his flat, a quiet place to focus on his coming exams. But when he meets the girl upstairs, his peace and quiet, his sanity and possibly even his life become jeopardized.

The Dead (2010)
Directors: Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford South Africa, 100 min
After his plane crashes in the South African bush, Rob Freeman (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) joins forces with Prince David Osei (a superstar actor in his native Ghana) to cross the vast desert by any means necessary. A daunting task under normal circumstances becomes particularly challenging after the zombie apocalypse.

The Violent Kind (2010)
Directors: The Butcher Brothers, USA, 95 minutes
What starts as a biker bash gone awry first gets unfathomably bloody before finally transcending into truly bizarre territory.

Gallants (2010)
Directors: Derek Kwok & Clement Cheng, Hong Kong, 98 minutes
The funniest, most ass-kicking, hard-rocking, pedal-to-the-metal movie of the year. It’s COCOON with kung fu! (New York Asian Film Festival)

Golden Slumber (2010)
Director: Yoshihiro Nakamura, South Korea, 139 minutes
Last year, Yoshihiro Nakamura’s FISH STORY saved the world from certain annihilation and became the word-of-mouth hit of the festival. This year, Nakamura’s back with another ode to the human connection, GOLDEN SLUMBER, a brain-melting thriller send-up that’s two parts THE BIG CHILL, three parts BOURNE IDENTITY and a million parts awesome. (New York Asian Film Festival)

Ip Man 2 (2010)
Director: Wilson Yip, Hong Kong, 108 minutes
It’s a rousing Canto-fable, a Hong Kong empowerment movie, a return to old school martial arts filmmaking with AVATAR-era production values, and on its opening weekend in Hong Kong it beat IRON MAN 2 at the box office like a redheaded stepchild. (New York Asian Film Festival)

Life and Death of Porno Gang (2009)
Director: Mladen Djordjevic, Serbia, 90 minutes
Adult movie director Marko steals money from his mobster producer Cane to create his masterpiece: an experimental black and white erotic horror film. When the film bombs and he can’t repay his boss, he slips away with the cast and crew to produce live porno-theater in the Serbian countryside. Then it gets weird.

Outrage (2010)
Director: Takeshi Kitano, Japan, 109 minutes
Takeshi Kitano is back in classic form, directing and starring in the genre God intended for him: a ruthless, bloody and very violent yakuza crime thriller.

Rammbock (2010)
Director: Marvin Kren, Germany, 59 minutes
Hoping to rekindle the sparks with his ex-girlfriend, Michael makes a surprise visit to her apartment in the city. Bad timing. As luck would have it, this is also the same day the zombie outbreak hits Berlin.

Red Hill (2010)
Director: Patrick Hughes, Australia, 95 minutes
On his first day on the job as a rural Australian constable, Shane Cooper (TRUE BLOOD star Ryan Kwanten) has a daunting assignment: face off against an escaped-convict Aboriginal tracker whose current prey is the entire Red Hill police department.

Rubber (2010)
Director: Quentin Dupieux, France/USA, 85 minutes
Quentin Dupieux (the real name of legendary DJ Mr. Ozio) has directed my hands-down favorite film of Cannes 2010. Robert, a very disgruntled psychokinetic automobile tire explodes the heads of birds, beasts and humans alike on a high-desert killing spree like no other.

Sound of Noise (2010)
Directors: Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stärne Nilsson, Sweden, 102 minutes
Musical terrorists have launched a full-scale musical attack using the city – its buildings, its machinery and its ceaseless noise – as their instrument. The group’s leaders are the “Bonnie and Clyde of underground rock,” hell-bent to dismantle the harmony of the world with their anarchic performances.

The Lovely Bones DVD, Lovely

Based on the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones makes a triumphant and graceful leap to the big screen thanks to Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson (Lord of The Rings Trilogy, King Kong). Is it a horror story? Yes. Is it a drama? Yes. A fantasy? Yes! It’s all those genres and something else swirling in the mix that is all Jackson. With a extraordinary cast which includes Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardner), Susan Sarandon (Oscar, Dead Man Walking), Stanley Tucci (in an Oscar and Golden Globe nominated role), and the amazing Saoirse Ronan (Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, Atonement) as Susie Salmon, that all breathe fresh air into this tragic tale of life and everything that comes after.

Tooth Fairy Due to Release on DVD and Blu-ray May 4

20th Century Fox announced Tooth Fairy is due to release on DVD and Blu-ray on May 4.

Derek Thompson (Dwayne Johnson) is a famed hockey player nicknamed “The Tooth Fairy” after his ability to knock out other players’ teeth. But one day he steals a dollar from under his girlfriend’s daughter’s pillow, left there for her lost tooth, and he is sentenced to two weeks of tooth fairy duty for stealing dreams. After attempting to carry out his tooth fairy duties for one night, he is labeled the worst tooth fairy ever and is stripped of his supplies. Will he be able to redeem himself and successfully exchange lost teeth for money, or will he let everyone–even himself–down and mess everything up?

Extras have yet to be released.

Legion Coming to DVD and Blu-ray May 11

Screen Gems’ apocalyptic fantasy, Legion, is due to release on DVD and Blu-ray May 11.

When God loses faith in humanity, he decides to send down his angels to kill everyone on Earth. One angel, Michael, is against God’s blind slaughter of humankind and goes to Earth and renounces his immortality and loyalty to Heaven by cutting off his wings and fights for the life of a sacred unborn child who can presumably save humanity. The patrons of a tiny diner in the middle of the Mojave Desert join Michael in fending off hordes of God’s angels and the numerous plagues. And just when you think it’s all over, God sends his strongest angel to take care of where others failed: Gabriel. Will they survive God’s wrath or will Michael’s efforts all be in vain?

The DVD and Blu-ray bonus features will include a behind-the-scenes look at the physical effects: “Creating the Apocalypse;” the cast and characters: “Humanity’s Last Line of Defense;” the visual effects: “From Pixels to Picture;” and on Blu-ray only, a picture-to-picture featured titled “Bringing Angels to Earth.”

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Due to Release April 27

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the release of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for April 27. This film is truly a fantastic world in which two men make a wager for the soul of Dr. Parnassus’s daughter where the captor of five souls wins.

Extra features will include a commentary with Director Terry Gilliam, an Introduction by Terry Gilliam, a deleted scene with optional commentary, featurettes (“Behind the Mirror”, “Building the Monastery”, “Doctor Parnassus Around the World”, “The Artwork of Doctor Parnassus”), a Heath Ledger Wardrobe Test with optional commentary, an interview with Heath Ledger, and a Cast & Crew Presentation on Stage. The Blu-ray release will also include “The Drunk” Multi-Angle Progression Sequence, and 2 additional featurettes (“Heath Ledger and Friends”, “The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam”).

Merlin: The Complete First Season from BBC

This April the BBC is bringing to DVD a plethora of adventure, magic and laughs for the whole family. Experience an imaginative twist on the rise of the infamous Arthurian sorcerer as the BBC introduces Merlin: The Complete First Season on DVD. Having premiered on NBC June 2009, the epic primetime drama was lauded by The Washington Post as “fun family fare” and hailed by The New York Post as “a smartly done retelling of the legend of King Arthur.”

Loaded with hours of adventure and magic, Merlin is produced by the award-winning team of Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy (Hex, Sugar Rush) and features a powerful ensemble cast including BAFTA Award-winner Richard Wilson (One Foot in the Grave, Demons), Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Persuasion) and John Hurt (Hellboy, Harry Potter). The series also guest stars Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman, Doctor Who) and Eve Myles (Torchwood, Little Dorrit). This must-own 5-disc set contains all 13 episodes from the engrossing series along with over 2 hours of special features including two making-of featurettes, video diaries, photo galleries and more.

Elemental Masters – Fantasy Card Game Exclusively on DSiWare

German game developer, lbxgames, announced today the release of Elemental Masters for Nintendo DSi. The highly anticipated fantasy card game will be released exclusively on Nintendo DSiWare, and can be downloaded for 800 Nintendo points.

”Elemental Masters is a Nintendo DSiWare premiere for US. Fantasy fans will really enjoy this game which is a perfect addition to Nintendo’s innovative download service”, said Fabian Thiele, CEO of lbxgames. “Normally DSiWare games provide just a short amount of gameplay time. We, on the other hand, want to set a new standard with Elemental Masters and keep players entertained for hours.”

In Elemental Masters, Nintendo DSi players have to stand their ground in a quest filled with magic and adventure. The game provides players with a thrilling combination of strategy and role-playing. Players will be able choose one of three characters, build up their army card deck and fight the mystical creatures of Elendior on a 3×3 play field with different elements. Throughout their adventure, players can capture the monsters of their enemy and support their attacks by using arcane spells as well as the rules of dark magic. Dive into the captivating story in the quest mode or duel with your friends in multiplayer. Elemental Masters provides more than ten hours of gameplay and over 100 creatures in over 15 maps.

Clash of the Titans Movie Stills

The ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus is helpless to save his family from Hades, vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

In theaters April 2, 2010
Starring Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Alexa Davalos, Danny Huston, Jason Flemyng, Nicholas Hoult, Izabella Miko, Mads Mikkelsen

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Videos & Stills

It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they’re not happy: Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy’s mother. As Percy adapts to his newly discovered status as a demi-god (his father is Poseidon), he finds himself caught between the battling titans of Mt. Olympus. He and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy’s mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods

Trailer

Featurette

Logan Lerman

Logan Lerman

Alexandra Daddario, Logan Lerman and Brandon T. Jackson

Pierce Brosnan and Brandon T. Jackson

Uma Thurman and Logan Lerman

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