Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Albert Brooks
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Rated: R
Running time: 1 hour 40 mins
Film District

Our Score: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

In a darkened room a man speaks into a cell phone. The rules are simple. You have him for 5 minutes. In that time frame he’s yours, no matter what. A minute before and a minute after you’re on your own. Yes or know?

Hollywood stunt driver by day/robbery wheel man at night, our hero – we never learn his name, he’s identified in the credits as DRIVER – (Gosling) is the best of the best when it comes to driving. So much so that his boss, Shannon, (Bryan Cranston) wants to make a NASCAR driver out of him. To get the money for a car Shannon visits Bernie (Brooks) one of the neighborhood “lenders,” a former film producer looking to invest his money wisely. Years ago Shannon ran afoul of Nino (Ron Perlman) one of Bernie’s fellow “lenders,” whose men demonstrated to Shannon that there really IS a substantial penalty on a delinquent loan. While returning home one night DRIVER meets his neighbor, Irene (Mulligan), a single mom who lives with her young son. Chance keeps putting the two in the same places and a friendship begins to grow. But, like many things we approach, things are not as they seem.

Winner of the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, “Drive” is a stylish film that doesn’t know what it wants to be. Is it a thriller? A romance? A heist film? All of the above? To be honest, I really don’t know. Though based on the novel of the same name by James Sallis, “Drive” has very little dialogue. The majority of the story is told through camera angles and a musical score that seems to have been composed in 1985. Gosling is serviceable here but he’s not given much of a back story – why does he do what he does? All he does is squint, talk softly and resemble a very young Christoph Waltz? He also spends his time constantly clenching his hand menacingly. As the mom next store, Mulligan is fine. Brooks, who I have followed since he started submitting short films on “Saturday Night Live” in the 70s does a good job as a bad guy, a role he’s also played in “The Simpson’s Movie.” Perlman is suitably evil and it’s always nice to see Russ Tamblyn (Riff in “West Side Story”) on the big screen. This is the good part.

I’m still confused as to what story director Refn wanted to tell. There are some fine chase scenes – perhaps an homage to Peter Yates’ “Bullitt” or William Friedkins’ “The French Connection” or “To Live and Die in L.A.” But there are also a lot of moody close ups accompanied by bad songs right out of 1985 – perhaps an homage to John Hughes? And there’s an awful lot of blood – props to Quentin Tarantino? This is the bad part.

I won’t deny that Renf has a way with a camera and, since I don’t know what his competition was, I will assume that he WAS the best director at Cannes this year. But slow motion action and gallons of blood do not a great film make. In this case, it only makes an average one.

Directed: Matthew Bate
Starring: Eddie Lee Sausage, Mitchell D, Dan Clowes, Henry Rosenthal, Ivan Brunetti, Mike Mitchell and Bob Mothersbaugh.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 89 minutes
Distributor: Tribeca Film

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I have always been a fan of comedy prank CDs and I remember listening to The Jerky Boys religiously growing up. I am not sure how but I never came across Eddie Lee and Mitchell D’s audio vérité recordings till now, but I am glad I did. The recordings of Peter and Raymond has been used in pop culture over the last 20 years in music, comics and film. This documentary follows the Eddie Lee and Mitchell D as they take us through how this whole phenomenon was born and what is has turned into today. The interviews are really interesting and we even have rare interview Peter himself back in 1993.

The recordings made by Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitchell D. where done back in the last 80’s when they lived in a pink apartment building dubbed the “Pepto Bismol Palace” in San Francisco. When they moved into their apartment in 1987, they discovered that their neighbors, Peter Haskett and Raymond Huffman, constantly were arguing and Peter was often screaming “shut up, little man!” at Ray. Eddie and Mitchell found this quite humorous and began began tape recording the arguments and distributing copies among their friends. From this it grew and grew into what it is today.

This film has not only been premiered at 2011 Sundance Film Festival, It has also won numerous awards. Overall it is very entertaining, but the second half runs a little thin. This comedy will make you laugh for sure. If you have never heard these recordings, it is sure to impact you more than others who have been listening for years. If you want to know how popular this has become while writing this review I attempted to visit the documentaries website and this is what I received “Bandwidth Limit Exceeded”. It just shows the demand for this film.

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Go to the Muppets Facebook page (http://di.sn/FroggyTattoo) to see “The Pig With the Froggy Tattoo” spoof trailer or check it out below:

THE HUNGER GAMES IS A WRAP

Close Of Principal Photography Confirmed

SANTA MONICA, CA (September 15, 2011) – LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, today announced the close of principal photography on the highly anticipated film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ runaway bestselling novel The Hunger Games.   Lionsgate will release THE HUNGER GAMES on March 23, 2012.  The film is the first in a series that Lionsgate is making based on the book trilogy that has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Filmed entirely in North Carolina, the locations spanned from a dense forest in which the arena that hosts the games themselves was created to a town that stood in for Katniss’ home, District 12, to a sound stage that was the platform for the fantastical sights and sounds of The Capitol, the futuristic capital city of the nation of Panem.  Principal photography on the 84 day production began on May 23^rd.

The film pairs Oscar® nominee Jennifer Lawrence (WINTER’S BONE, X-MEN FIRST CLASS) with Josh Hutcherson (THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT) and Liam Hemsworth (THE LAST SONG) in the key young adult roles.  Rounding out the cast is a who’s who of acclaimed adult actors: Oscar® nominee Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Oscar® nominee Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley and Toby Jones.

“It has been an absolute thrill watching THE HUNGER GAMES, a project that has truly become part of Lionsgate’s DNA since our acquisition of the book in 2009, come to life.  What I observed on set was impressive on every level, and reinforced my confidence that we have assembled precisely the right team to bring Suzanne Collins’ brilliant novel to the big screen,” said Joe Drake, Lionsgate’s co-COO and Motion Picture Group President.

Although the intensely anticipated sets were closed to press and visitors, Lionsgate and the filmmakers were able to reach out and touch the incredibly eager fans several times during the production process.

Lionsgate debuted the central cast trio through two Entertainment Weekly covers, featuring Jennifer Lawrence in character as Katniss and Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth in character as Peeta and Gale.  It marked the first time that a studio has revealed a principal cast of film characters on sequential national magazine covers.

Winners of “The Ultimate Hunger Games Fan Sweeps,” a global contest where fans entered to win the opportunity to be flown to the set of THE HUNGER GAMES, was the one exception to the film’s closed set policy.  In mid August, five winners from around the world and their guests got a glimpse of the sets, observed the filming of a scene and met the cast.

A heavily promoted first look at footage from the film debuted on MTV’s 2011 Video Music Awards on August 28^th.  The show attracted MTV’s biggest audience in the network’s history with a record-breaking 12.4 million total viewers.

About THE HUNGER GAMES

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, from a trilogy that has over 12 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.

Lionsgate will release THE HUNGER GAMES on March 23, 2012.

About Lionsgate 

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms.  The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as “Mad Men”, “Weeds” and “Nurse Jackie” along with  the comedy “Blue Mountain State, ” the upcoming drama “Boss” and the syndication successes “Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne”, its spinoff “Meet The Browns”,  the upcoming “For Better or Worse,” “The Wendy Williams Show” and “Are We There Yet?”.

Its feature film business has generated more than half a billion dollars at the North American box office in the past year, fueled by such successes as THE LINCOLN LAWYER, TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY, THE EXPENDABLES, which was #1 at the North American box office for two weeks, THE LAST EXORCISM, TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, KICK ASS and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards®. The Company’s home entertainment business has grown to more than 8% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

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Bella and Edward, plus those they love, must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by a marriage, honeymoon, and the tumultuous birth of a child… which brings an unforeseen and shocking development for Jacob Black.

In The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), plus those they love, must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by a marriage, honeymoon, and the tumultuous birth of a child… which brings an unforeseen and shocking development for Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).

With more of the romance, passion, intrigue and action that made Twilight, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse worldwide blockbusters, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling book series, begins the conclusion of the tale of vampire love, boundless friendship, acceptance, and finding your true self.

“Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1” hits theaters November 18th

Directed by: Rodman Flender
Starring: Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Jimmy Vivino, Scott Healy, Mike Merritt, James Wormworth, Jerry Vivino, Mark Pender, Richie Rosenberg, Rachael L. Hollingsworth, Fredericka Meek
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 89 minutes

Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 4 out of 5 stars

So before I get into the review, I should note that I am not really a major Conan O’Brien fan. Don’t hate him…just don’t follow him. Growing up in New York, I have though attended numerous tapings of the Late Night show and have even met Conan personally. I thought this would be a chance to catch up and see what he has been up to. I really enjoyed the ride and his journey through his post-Late Night concert tour. Conan really knows how to entertain but this documentary is not just jokes. It really shows his struggles and hardships about being on tour and constantly being “on”. This is definitely worth a purchase for fans of Team Coco and also non-fans to get a look at the “real” Conan.

Obviously everyone knows about the battle of the Late Night TV hosts Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno…blah blah Jay Leno (aka asshole) bullied Conan off TV…in so many words. When Conan was paid off, he was told he couldn’t appear on TV for six months. He then came up with this idea to go on tour with a band and spread the word to his fans. This film documents that trip and covers a lot of the stops on his tour from Radio City in New York to his hometown of Boston. You really get to see a different side of Conan in this film. You always see him “on” like I said earlier and always funny. He is funny in this for sure but you see a more human side to him and get a glimpse of what really goes on behind the scenes.

Can’t really say much about the video since it is documentary but it was quite clear and crisp on Blu-ray. The sound is notable since most of the film is songs and music. The special features on the disc are great and definitely worth checking out. If you are fan of commentary, then this disc delivers with director Rodman Flender, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Mike Sweeney, and Sona Movsesian. It is very funny and entertaining. There are also over 40 minutes of additional footage and the bulk of the footage is focused on the comedy between O’Brien and his assistant and writing staff. It is rare that this happens but some of it is better than what is in the film and not sure why it was not included. There is an interview with Conan O’Brien for AT&T U-Verse, which runs about 14 minutes and really digs deep into his life. Lastly there is interview outtakes which is always fun with Conan’s adlibbing.

Brian T. Jaynes is the director of two new horror films, “Boggy Creek” and “Humans versus Zombies”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Brian about working on his films and when we can see them.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you give us some background on how your got started with “Boggy Creek”?
Brian Jaynes: I have always been a fan of Charles B. Pierce films. I remember the trailer for his 70’s film “Legend of Boggy Creek” scarring the hell out of me! I realized there haven’t ever really been any interesting films about Sasquatch or Bigfoot. There have been films made but they all have been sort of hokey in my opinion. I shared the story with my wife who wrote the screenplay for me and the rest is history.

MG: Can you tell us about the creature and how you chose not to use any CGI effects?
BJ: Anytime you are going to bring a creature into the realm of CGI, I think you have to be careful of the creature’s dynamics. If you have a big budget and can spend a large portion of that to create a realistic creature its fine however with a creature like Sasquatch which is very human like in its movement it made sense to have a human play the creature. I think it looks more realistic. Phil Nichols made the suits and he did a real great job.

MG: How do you feel your second film “Humans versus Zombies” differs from other zombie films?
BJ: In the end it’s still a zombie movie. There is nothing ground breaking but what I think we did accomplish is that our film tends to be a little more character driven than theme driven. The film is more about the humans and what they are doing to survive rather than what the zombies are doing. I think we have a good movie that will be fun to watch.

MG: What was the most difficult part to making that film?
BJ: Probably the time frame in which we shot. We filmed “Humans versus Zombies” in 18 days, so it wasn’t the most leisurely schedule. We certainly could have used more time and I would have like to have more of a budget. The weather was pretty cold also while we were shooting. I think we had a couple 12 and 11 degree days where we were out shooting. The city of Pittsburgh where we shot the film was really great to us through the whole process.

MG: You handle a lot of different roles on both films. How do you juggle all the various tasks?
BJ: I don’t juggle them very well as I should…they all kind of stress me out. Until I get enough folks around me that are able to help I will be wearing most of those hats. Part of is that I am trained as an editor and digital effects artist first and for most. Having that training has helped me in directing because I know the pieces and how they are going to fit together before they even make it to the editing room. When you’re and independent filmmaker you find yourself doing a lot of the task such as putting the money together, directing and editing. In the very near future I should be just wearing the directing and executive producer hats. I plan to make an announcement in a few weeks about a couple projects I will be filming in Bulgaria for the SyFy channel. I will just be directing on those.

MG: Is it safe to say that horror is your favorite genre to work in?
BJ: I actually probably would prefer the action/thriller genre. I like the horror/thriller genre but I think I would much more prefer science fiction/action thriller. There still a lot of elements of suspense but I tend to lead more towards sci-fi.

MG: What is the release schedule for the two films?
BJ: “Boggy Creek” releases on DVD September 17th at places like Wal-Mart and Best Buy. You will also be able to digitally stream it through places like Netfix as well along with a television run later this year on FearNet. “Humans versus Zombies” will have a limited theatrical release late this year’s to about 25 cities with a majority of them on the East Coast. It’s television premiere with be Feb. 15, 2012 on Chiller. It will be out on DVD in late March 2012.

Relativity Media Teams Up with eBay to Auction off Movie Memorabilia from Machine Gun Preacher for Charity

100% Proceeds to benefit Angels of East of Africa Rescue Organization

(Beverly Hills, Calif.) September 14, 2011– Relativity Media is proud to announce it is working with eBay to auction off premiere tickets, an autographed movie poster, and a custom-built motorcycle from its upcoming release of Machine Gun Preacher. Gerard Butler (300) delivers a searing performance as Sam Childers, the impassioned founder of the Angels of East Africa rescue organization in Golden Globe-nominated director Marc Forster’s (Monster’s Ball) moving story of violence and redemption. All proceeds will benefit Childers’ charity.

The online charity auction http://www.ebay.com/machinegunpreacher goes live on Wednesday, September 14 when bidding opens for two VIP seats to the Los Angeles Premiere and an autographed movie poster signed by the cast, and closes on Monday, September 19.  The premiere tickets’ starting bid is $500, while the starting bid for the autographed poster is $50. Bidding will begin on Monday, September 26 for the 2010 custom-built Rate Bike motorcycle, ridden by Gerard Butler in the movie, through Thursday, October 6. The starting bid is $30,000. The winning bids are 100% tax deductible.

Machine Gun Preacher is the inspirational true story of Childers (Butler), a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children in East Africa.   The explosive, real-life tale of a man who has rescued over a thousand orphans from starvation, disease, and enslavement, Machine Gun Preacher is written by Jason Keller (Relativity’s Untitled Snow White) and also stars Michelle Monaghan (Source Code), Kathy Baker (Cold Mountain), Madeline Carroll (Mr. Popper’s Penguins), Academy Award® nominated Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), and Souleymane Sy Savane (Damages). Producing are Forster, along with Relativity’s Robbie Brenner, Safady Entertainment’s Gary Safady and Craig Chapman, and GG Filmz’s Deborah Giarratana.

Machine Gun Preacher will be released by Relativity Media in New York and Los Angeles on September 23^rd and will expand markets in the weeks to follow.

For additional information on the film, please visit: http://www.machinegunpreacher.org/movie/

Based on the classic novel of the same name, the international thriller is set at the height of the Cold War years of the mid-20th Century. George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a disgraced British spy, is rehired in secret by his government – which fears that the British Secret Intelligence Service, a.k.a. MI-6, has been compromised by a double agent working for the Soviets. “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy“ opens on December 9th.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Official Vanity URLs

Focus Features Official Vanity URLs

Official Site:  www.FocusFeatures.com

Facebook Page:  www.facebook.com/focusfeatures

Twitter Handle:  http://twitter.com/focusfeatures

YouTube Page:  www.youtube.com/focusfeatures

Twitter Hashtag:  #FocusFeatures

Doug Jones is known for his roles in the “Hellboy” series, “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”.  We had a chance to interview Doug Jones about those projects in May 2010, check it out here.  This time around Media Mikes chatted with Doug about work on the web series’ “The Guild” & “Dragon Age: Redemption”, his upcoming film roles in “Dust of War” and also his coffee table book coming out called “Mime Very Own Book”.

MG: Tell us about working on the web series “The Guild”?
DJ: I absolutely love “The Guild”.  The whole phenomenon of the web series is something new to me.  I got caught up with the first four seasons of “The Guild” and fell in love with it.  Felicia Day is such a great writer and she also plays the lead role of Codex.  When she asked me to play a reoccurring role in season 5, I jumped at it.  I have been in episodes 6 and 7 so far.  I will also show up in a couple more in early October.  This season “The Guild” members are at a gaming convention and Robin Thorsen’s character Clara kind of wonders over to this Steampunk booth.  I am on one of the three characters at this booth. We have these British accents, act very snooty and we totally overdid it. We are just having so much fun with it and it is just so well written. Oh my gosh, its great. I have never laughed that much on a set ever.

MG: You are working again with Felicia Day with “Dragon Age: Redemption”
DJ: Being the big game/geek queen, she is also a big fan of “Dragon Age”.  So she is developing a web series based on “Dragon Age II”.  We have a decent budget and it is actually like “Lord of the Rings” made for the web. It was very epic for a web series.  I get to play the main bad guy named Cerberus.  I am Qunari Mage and for people that play the game that would make sense to them.

MG: Last time we spoke you just finished “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life” and now it is released, are you excited to have it out for your fans?
DJ: I am so happy about this film.  It is a biography on Serge Gainsbourg, who is an iconic singer songwriter from France and he was total cultural benchmark. I get to play the most fun character.  It is a biography but I get to be the fantasy element in this.  I play Serge’s alter-ego.  I am cartooney exaggerated looking version of what he didn’t like about himself.  This was a really wonderful and fun role for me to play. This year marks the 20th anniversary of his death, which is pretty timely to put the movie out now.  I am happy that it finally got its US release.  It started playing in Los Angeles and New York on Labor Day and is opening in new cities every week until November.  You can find out more information about this at my website thedougjonesexperience.com.

MG: You just finished filming “Dust of War”, tell us about that film?
DJ: I get offered a lot of independent films from young filmmakers.  I love young filmmakers that are energetic, passionate and have a true vision for storytelling. “Dust of War” was written and directed by Andrew Kightlinger from a small town in South Dakota.  This town was a perfect place for our story, which is a post apocalyptic story after the crash of society and it was caused to crash by something outer worldly.  So you have this “Mad Max” setup and good guys on the run from bad guys.  The formula has been done before but this script and these characters really grabbed me.  I absolutely LOVE them. I got to play a character named Jebediah Strumm.  I am the counterpart to Crispus Hansen, who is played by Tony Todd.  We got to play these traveling minstrels who try and bring life back to this miserable world.  We get to protect and interact with the leads characters.  I am very pleased to have be able to work on “Dust of War”.

MG: Tell us about your coffee table book called “Mime Very Own Book”?
DJ: Oh my gosh, I had so much fun with this project.  When you fill your schedule with film and TV projects and you take out three days out of a photo shoot for a coffee table book it is something very different.  This is a photo book of 250 pages of me as a mime.  We do a lot of pop culture send-ups.  We make fun of famous works of art, movie posters and famous photos in history.  For instance, there is one of me with my arms photoshopped off as “Venus de Milo”.  You will see me in there as the Mona Lisa.  You will see me in boxing shorts knocked out with myself standing over me as Muhammad Ali.  It goes on and on.  We also explore different puns like “A Mime Is A Terrible Thing To Waste”, “Once upon a Mime” and “Mime over Matter” [laughs].  The list just goes on.

MG: Any secrets you want to leak to MediaMikes.com?
DJ: Currently, I am on my way to a costume/makeup fitting for a contract I signed yesterday.  So, I have a new movie shooting late October.  Unfortunately, I can’t say the title just yet.  I can tell you it is fun romp with me in creature makeup.  It will be the first time I am back in creature makeup in two years. So I am looking very forward to it.  It is a huge studio film with big stars in it and it is going to be funny as hell.

RON WHITE’S COMEDY SALUTE TO THE TROOPS

Featuring an All-Star Line-Up of Comedians, Top-Rated Tribute Debuts on DVD October 11 From Vivendi Entertainment and Fontana Distribution

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – Paying tribute to America’s men and women in uniform, the hilarious extravaganza Ron White’s Comedy Salute To The Troops debuts on DVD October 11, 2011 from Vivendi Entertainment and Fontana Distribution. Hosted by Grammy-nominated comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White—best known as the cigar smoking, scotch drinking funnyman from the “Blue Collar Comedy” tour—the hilariously funny movie features comedy performances by Alex Reymundo, Robert Hawkins, Vic Henley, Kathleen Madigan and Tim Wilson. This fourth annual Comedy Salute To The Troops aired on CMT in March and remains the network’s second highest rated show of the last year. Hosted at the Grand Ole Opry, Ron White’s Comedy Salute To The Troops benefitted the Armed Forces Foundation. The DVD also includes musical performances by Rascal Flatts, Margo Rey and John Oates and will be available for the suggested retail price of $14.93.

Directed by: Fred M. Andrews
Starring: Sid Haig, Mehcad Brooks, Serinda Swan
Studio: The Bubble Factory
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running time: 93 minutes

Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars

Alright so if you have seen the trailers then you probably get an idea of what to expect from “Creature”. It is going to be over the top and have a lot of gore and nudity. You pretty much get that for the most part and no really extra surprises. This recently opened up in theaters to one pf the worst ever opening weekends in history but it is not the worst movie by a long shot. There is some good comedy and the kills are decent. The film reminds me of a mix of “Hatchet” with “Cabin Fever”…but they are much funnier and with better gore and kill scenes.

The story follows an ex-Navy seal (Mehcad Brooks), his girlfriend (Serinda Swan) and their friends as they make their way to New Orleans on a road trip. When the group stop at the local convenience store, they meet Chopper (Sid Haig), who tells them about Lockjaw, a creature who is half-man/half-alligator. The group of friends decide to go visit the house of this creature and go figure things go to hell.

The creature is a little bit stiff overall and doesn’t really steal the show, probably due to the budget but overall looks pretty cool. The cast is fun including horror genre favorite Sig Haig. When I originally saw he was in this I figured he was a cameo but he has a nice decent role. It was nice to see Sid on the big screen again since “The Devil Rejects”. Serinda Swan known best for her role as a siren in “TRON: Legacy” was able to finally show off her acting skills. Since this is a campy horror she can’t do much with it but she definitely shows promise. Is it the best movie ever…no, but it is worth a watch for horror fans.

CBS FILMS ACQUIRES TIFF CROWD PLEASER SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN

TORONTO – September 12, 2011 – CBS Films announced today that they have acquired the U.S. distribution rights to SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN which made its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival this week.  The announcement was made jointly today by CBS Films’ COO Wolfgang Hammer and EVP of Acquisitions Scott Shooman.

Directed by Oscar©-nominee Lasse Hallström (Chocolat), SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is an extraordinary, beguiling tale of fly-fishing and political spinning, of unexpected heroism and late-blooming love and of an attempt toprove the impossible, possible. Ewan McGregor (Beginners) and Emily Blunt (The Adjustment Bureau) star in the feature film alongside Oscar©-nominee Kristen ScottThomas (I’ve Loved You So Long).

Based on Paul Torday’s acclaimed novel, SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is written by Oscar©-winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and produced by Paul Webster (The Motorcycle Diaries) and executive produced by Jamie Laurenson, Stephen Garrett, Paula Jalfon, Zygi Kamasa and Guy Avshalom.

“I am so happy to have the support of the team at CBS Films for the distribution of our labor of love, ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.’ I had the best of times working on it with producer Paul Webster, writer Simon Beaufoy and the cast, Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, Amr Waked and Kristin Scott Thomas,” said Hallström.

“Lasse Hallström has done it again with this beautiful, heartwarming, and elegant picture. The performances are amazing from top to bottom,” commented Shooman who continued, “We are honored to have the opportunity to bring this extraordinary film to American audiences.”

UTAIndependent Film Group set up the film’s financing and brokered the deal with CBS Films.

About CBS Films

CBS Films is a division of CBS Corporation.  CBS Films will release four to six movies a year, spanning all genres.  For more information, log on to www.cbsfilms.com.

New Poster Now Available For “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”.  In theaters: December 21st, 2011.

Director: Brad Bird

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Josh Holloway, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Lea Seydoux, Anil Kapoor

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See if you can keep you with Kate by playing the How Does She Do It?! game on the official I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT Facebook page.  Keep up with her for 45 seconds for a chance to win exciting prizes that are being given out randomly.