The moral of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is that what scares you as a child doesn’t necessarily have the same effect on a grown-up. The very talented fabulist filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has in many of his best films, Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth, explored the heightened emotions and fantasies of very young people. Who knows but maybe this can be traced back, at least in part, to what he describes as the scariest movie he ever saw on television, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, written by Nigel McKeand and broadcast by ABC in 1973?
Now he has remade that telefilm into a feature, which he co-wrote and co-produced while handing directing chores to comics artist Troy Nixey (creator of Trout), making a feature debut. The result is a scary movie that is genuinely scary in parts, although an adult can’t help noticing this is set in the very worn and tattered territory of the haunted-house genre. Then when you get a glimpse of the CGI critters causing all the mayhem, the scares completely vanish. You spend the rest of the movie wondering why someone doesn’t just call a fumigator and get rid of those damn creatures.
The movie may still scare 9-year-olds when it gets released August 26, but anyone much older may laugh rather than shriek. Del Toro is by now a brand name so interest from his extended fan base as well as those from the world of comics should allow Miramax and FilmDistrict to enjoy a modest box-office success before this movie joins its predecessor as a late-night video.
The cast of ‘Jersey Shore’ returned to their old stomping grounds, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, over the weekend!
After a six-week trip to Italy, Snooki, JWoww and the rest of the cast have been spotted around their old beach house.
The girls were spotted today leaving a tanning salon near their home!
While the cast acclimates back to life at the shore to film the fifth season of ‘Jersey Shore,’ MTV is busy putting the kibosh on rumors that the network is looking to replace the now too-expensive cast.
“We love the present cast and their summer adventures have just begun,” an MTV spokesperson said in a statement. “We currently have no plans to recast the show.”
Pauly D also responded to the rumors while DJing in Las Vegas on Friday.
“I think we’re irreplaceable,” he told PEOPLE. “I don’t think they could replace us. They’d just be people trying to be like us, anyway.”
It was widely reported last week by critics that ‘Cars 2′ is the worst Pixar movie ever made. Did that alter how well the movie performed? Not really! The movie – despite the bad ratings, earned $68 million in it’s first 3 days of release! That’s more than the original made (earned $60 million it’s opening weekend).
I helped contribute to that pot. I took my kids to see ‘Cars 2′ on Friday – at a Drive-In no less! (I took this picture above from our spot.) It’s the last one in Oregon, and I absolutely love the drive-in. It reminds me of being a kid.
The movie, on the other hand, I didn’t love. I thought it was pretty bad – in all honesty – but my kids loved it. I didn’t necessarily enjoy the first ‘Cars’ movie – but the second one is so much worse. It won’t matter, though, parents will still take their kids – because kids love it!
I didn’t get to see ‘Bad Teacher’ – even though I wanted to. I’d love to hear what you thought! Plenty of you did go see ‘Bad Teacher’ because it came in No. 2 at the Box Office with $31 million. That’s better than it was expected to perform!
Don’t forget to tune into ICYDK this Friday – where we’ll discuss the movies coming out that day – PLUS, I’ll be throwing a contest in honor of my month working with MSN FILM FAN!
Rosie Huntington Whitely arrives at the UK Premiere of Transformers: Dark Of The Moon at BFI IMAX in London, England.
She is absolutely stunning! This is one of my favorite dresses I’ve seen in a long, long time. The dress, by Burberry, is so flattering on her. She just looks gorgeous!
On the season premiere of ‘Two and a Half Men’ Alan and Jake will learn Charlie Harper IS DEAD.
Sources connected with the show tell TMZ … Chuck Lorre’s plan is to make sure Charlie Sheen can NEVER come back on the show. Although the first show won’t be filmed until August 5, producers have been kicking around scenarios, which include Charlie driving a car over a cliff.
Of course, it would be art imitating life, because two of Charlie Sheen’s cars went down a cliff on Mulholland Drive.
As for how Ashton Kutcher enters the picture, there’s been talk that he buys Charlie’s house after Charlie kicks the bucket.
Sources tell us … the first script still isn’t locked and Lorre often makes changes until close to taping, but it’s pretty clear — Charlie Harper is pushin’ up daisies.
Looks like Charlie may not need CBS anyway! Sources tell Radar Online that Charlie is close to signing a deal to return to TV! Find out where!
I can’t tell if this is going to be good or not. I love Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman. But while I do love Jennifer Aniston, she hasn’t made a movie I enjoyed in a long time. So jury’s out on this one.
