News

Isabella Rossellini has joined Ryan Murphy’s upcoming FX series “The Beauty” in a recurring guest star role, Variety has learned.

The “Blue Velvet” star and “Conclave” Oscar nominee joins previously announced series leads Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos, Jeremy Pope and Rebecca Hall.

FX and 20th Century Television declined to comment. A representative for Murphy could not be immediately reached for comment.

“The Beauty,” from co-creators Murphy and Matthew Hodgson, was given an 11-episode order from FX. The series, which is currently in production, is based on the Image Comics series of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. While character and plot details are being kept under wraps, a description of the comic series reads as follows:

“Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty. What if there was a way to guarantee you could become more and more beautiful every day? What if it was a sexually transmitted disease?...

Dan Reed’s January 6 Doc ‘Stopping The Steal’ Sells Around The World

Emmy-winner Dan Reed’s documentary about the Jan 6 insurrection has sold to a wealth of networks around the world. Channel 4-Max’s Stopping the Steal has been picked up by Sbs Australia, Nrk Norway, Rtl Deutschland, Tvnz New Zealand, Svt Sweden, Dr Denmark, Warner Bros. Discovery for HBO Max & Dmax in Iberia, TVN24 in Poland, Discovery Benelux & Nove + D+ Italy, Canal+ for French speaking Europe and Africa and Channel HOT8 and yesDocu for Israel. The doc tells the story of how Donald Trump, the former and possibly future Potus, encouraged a band of people to subvert the U.S. constitution and storm the Capitol. The story is told from the inside by a line-up consisting entirely of Trump supporters and allies from the Vice President’s office down. Distributor Sphere Abacus struck the sales and MD Jonathan Ford...

Friday, June 17, 1994 was a monumental day for professional sports in America. For the most part, fans and media knew this when they woke up. The highlights:

Arnold Palmer — the most beloved golfer on the planet; a charismatic force of nature who commanded "Arnie's Army" and popularized the sport amongst working class people — was, barring a furious comeback from a 64-year-old man, set to close out his final round at the U.S. Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. In Chicago, the 1994 FIFA World Cup commencement ceremony was taking place, and was doubly significant for marking the first time the prestigious soccer tournament would be held in the United States. 500 miles southwest of the Windy City, baseball fans were keeping an eye on the Seattle Mariners tilt with the Kansas City Royals, wherein phenom Ken Griffey Jr. could potentially tie Babe Ruth's MLB record for most home runs before June 30 (of note...

Looking back, 1974 was a groundbreaking year for new musical releases. To re-create some of the magic that year brought, Classic Vinyl (Ch. 26) is counting down the top “50 Albums Turning 50” — as voted by you, our listeners!

50 Albums Turning 50Stream the full countdown nowListen on the App

Listen on the App

The “50 Albums Turning 50” countdown premieres on Classic Vinyl (Ch. 26) on May 24 at 3pm Et.

Stream it anytime, anywhere, on the SiriusXM app.

Directions: Vote once for up to 20 of your favorite albums in the poll below before 11:59pm Et on May 20, 2024.

Can’t see the poll? Click here to vote.

Albums from 1974 you voted on

These are the possible album choices for this year’s “50 Albums Turning 50” countdown:

Aerosmith – Get Your Wings

America – Holiday

April Wine – Live!

Argent – Encore: Live in Concert

Bachman–Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile

Bad Company – Bad Company

Bill Wyman – Monkey Grip

Billy Joel – Streetlife Serenade

Blue...

[Editor’s Note: Tubefilter Charts is a weekly rankings column from Tubefilter with data provided by GospelStats. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a top number ranking of YouTube channels based on statistics collected within a given time frame. Check out all of our Tubefilter Charts with new installments every week right here.]

Scroll down for this week’s Tubefilter Chart.

January has been an interesting month as far as our Global Top 50 is concerned. For the third time in four weeks, there’s a new #1 in our ranking of the most-watched YouTube channels in the world.

Like so many channels in the Top 50, this week’s #1 is known for short-form videos rather than long-form uploads.

Chart Toppers

Welcome to the top spot, ToRung. The Vietnamese comedian has been rising steadily in our charts over the past two months. He appeared on our radar in December, when he used videos with suggestive thumbnails to make his first top-ten appearance in the Global Top 50. Since then,...

Exclusive: Amidst a recent expansion into docs and scripted series, after just two years as a producer-financier of features, Closer Media has added accomplished producers Joey Marra and Nate Matteson to its leadership team. Former Jigsaw exec Marra will lead the company’s non-fiction division, with former manager Matteson set to oversee scripted television.

The hires come following Closer Media’s successful run on the fall festival circuit with titles including its first narrative feature, Ezra, The Monk and the Gun, which was snapped up for North America by Roadside Attractions after bowing out of Toronto, and the documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

Marra will be based out of New York City, with Matteson working out of L.A.

Since joining Closer, Marra has spearheaded development of the Elon Musk documentary Musk, from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, which was recently acquired by HBO. He produced...

Medical horror has always been central to the mysterious Edgar Allan Poe short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher." It opens when an unnamed narrator receives a letter from the ill Roderick Usher, whose sister, Madeline is experiencing cataleptic trances from an illness of her own. When she eventually passes, Roderick fears her body will be analyzed for medical study and embalmed. Instead of giving her over for an autopsy, Roderick decides to keep her in the family tomb for two weeks. Alas, in typical Poe fashion, it is revealed at the end that Madeline was entombed before she had actually passed.

In Mike Flanagan's "The Fall of the House of Usher," the titular family's relationship with medicine is generational. In this updated story, Roderick and Madeline's mother Eliza worked for a pharmaceutical company while also being a devout woman who believed God could heal better than any medicine.

The statistics are staggering. Over half-a-million Americans have died of opioid overdoses triggered by controlled-release Oxycontin. So, the big question is how did this happen?

“The Crime of the Century,” HBO’s new two-part, four hour-documentary airing May 10-11 from the Oscar and Emmy-winning Alex Gibney and produced in association with the Washington Post, is a disturbing deep dive into how Big Pharma, political operatives and government regulations helped cause this massive health crisis. The first part looks at the origins of the crisis while part two explores the marketing of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl. Recently, the Washington Post hosted a zoom conversation between Gibney and Post reporters Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham who have investigated the drug crisis for several years.

“The Crime of the Century” was three years in the making. Gibney was drawn to the subject matter after a conversation with the investigative unit at the Post.

Exclusive: Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit newsroom The Marshall Project has closed a deal with Storied Media Group for representation of its film and television rights.

Storied Media Group will represent the publisher in the packaging and selling of its acclaimed, critical and timely reporting on the U.S. criminal justice system. Smg will curate the publication’s daily stories, hard-hitting investigative pieces and growing archives, and market the articles to studios, streamers, networks and producers for adaptation worldwide.

The multi award-winning newsroom, founded in 2014 and named after the honorable justice Thurgood Marshall, was created to make an impact through journalism, rendering the criminal justice system more fair, effective, transparent and humane. Its diverse team is composed of some of the country’s leading talents in top-quality investigative and explanatory journalism. The Marshall Project has consistently produced work that has affected real world change. The 2015 series An Unbelievable Story of Rape, a collaboration with ProPublica,...

Exclusive: Netflix continues to be aggressive in the material market, making a preemptive deal for the Dan Kunka script Lift, for Simon Kinberg’s Genre Pictures and Matt Reeves’ 6th & Idaho to produce. Genre’s Audrey Chon and 6th & Idaho’s Adam Kassan are also producing.

Netflix moved quickly, after the spec was sent to every studio last night. There’s a strong part for a lead actress. A female master thief and her ex-boyfriend who works for the FBI team up to steal $100 million in gold bullion being transported on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich.

Kunka has several projects set around town. TriStar and Escape Artists have the sci-fi adaptation Cagn, Focus Features and George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse have Water Crisis, based on an investigative journalist who recently documented how the world is running out of water; and Church of Spies has Philip Noyce set to direct.

Quentin Tarantino tried to steal the swinging sixties aura Tinseltown back from the murderous late sixties spree which ground the decade of love and peace to a close. But a new exposé takes an almost forensic look at the Tate–Labianca murders. A comprehensive Manson Family docuseries Helter Skelter, is coming to Epix. Produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, it will premiere June 14.

The six-part docuseries was executive produced and directed by Lesley Chilcott. Her recently-directed feature documentary, Watson, is currently being broadcast in over 50 countries on Animal Planet. She also directed CodeGirl, A Small Section of the World, and produced Waiting For “Superman,” It Might Get Loud, and An Inconvenient Truth. “Helter Skelter set outs to illuminate new perspectives on one of the most legendary crimes of our time,” Chilcott said in a statement.

“Before the Menendez brothers, Oj, and Ted Bundy, there was the biggest story of murder...

David Crow Aug 28, 2019

Alfred Hitchcock used the illusion of being shot in one take with Rope

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: There once was an ambitious auteur who somehow convinced studios to gift-wrap him Hollywood money (and Hollywood stars) for what was ultimately an exercise in experimental filmmaking. Despite on the surface playing with genre tropes, his movie controversially used long shots and elaborate camera set-ups to create the illusion of one unbroken take and a deliberate pace.

… I am of course talking about the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope. Could it have been anything else?

Indeed, long before Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s majestic and strangely hypnotic Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Hitchcock also famously attempted the magic trick of a seemingly uninterrupted moviegoing experience. Granted, there are also major differences. For starters, Birdman is the far bigger triumph that led to Iñárritu proudly taking...

Chicago – There are two dates in modern American History that ring in the heads of certain generations. Of course, there is September 11th, 2001, but the granddaddy of that date is November 22nd, 1963. That is when an American president, John F. Kennedy, was shot point blank in the head and killed on the street of an American city. The official proclamation from the government is that a lone assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, fired those shots. In a new Chicago play, “Assassination Theater,” subtitled “Chicago’s Role in the Crime of the Century,” the jury is still decidedly out.

Play Rating: 3.5/5.0

The play is presented lecture style, with audio/visual screens and actors portraying some of the most notorious characters associated with the assassination, and is a complex presentation regarding the labyrinth of circumstances and people who could have been involved with the crime, including a former Chicago mobster who confessed to...

As I mentioned in its introduction, my Steely Dan appreciation last week stemmed from an email exchange with several other people. And my article was not the last word by a long shot. One of the participants, Tony Alterman, is responding with his own album-by-album review, and his brother, CultureCatch's own Ian Alterman, is pitching in with his own observations. Here, with punctuation corrected and tangents omitted, is the origin of the debate and its continuation.

Tony Alterman:

Katy Lied -- Probably [Steely Dan's] fourth-best album, after Aja, Can't Buy a Thrill, and Royal Scam, in that order. Of course, fourth-best for Steely Dan is a bit like Beethoven's fourth-best symphony -- shades of difference here.

Ian:

Re: Steely Dan, it might be heresy, but I think Royal Scam is better than Aja. So my order would be Royal Scam, Aja, Can't Buy a Thrill, and then...well...it wouldn’t be Katy Lied.

Aside from The Return of… or The Revenge of…, there may be no more beloved horror titles than those involving The House…. There is something very mysterious and foreboding about a mysterious house containing all kinds of unknown horrors.

Shout Factory has released a new entry on the list with House in the Alley arising today, May 27th. The obscure Vietnamese horror pic is sure to pique the interest of fans and follow in the footsteps of some of the freaky House-themed films of the past…which leads us to our newest Top List: Horror's 7 Most Haunting Houses.

Make no mistake; we aren't necessarily talking about 'haunted houses' here, but 'haunting houses,' meaning movies with House in the title that did a wonderful job of scaring the hell out of us. We'll begin with some honorable mentions to get the ball rolling.

The video game-inspired House of the Dead...

As we rightfully celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' rockin'-vasion of America, it is also worth noting the 40th anniversaries of progressive rock albums released in 1974 -- a banner year for the genre.

In alphabetical rather than chronological order, here is just a short list, along with links to a representative composition from each album.

Enjoy!

Apostrophe (Frank Zappa)

Although Zappa had been "at it" since 1966 -- as one of the earliest progenitors of progressive rock -- and although he had already put out over a dozen important albums, Apostrophe (and the immediately prior album, Over-Nite Sensation) arguably brought him to the masses through his cross-over "hit," "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," which, despite its length, received regular airplay on FM stations. It didn't hurt that the album also included two of his funniest, most fun songs, "Cozmik Debris" and "Stinkfoot."

Hamburger Concerto (Focus)

For those who only know Focus via their 1971 novelty mega-hit,...

To mark the release of Fire in the Blood on 24th March, we’ve been given 2 copies to give away on DVD.

Fire In The Blood is a critically-acclaimed documentary of medicine, monopoly and malice that tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments aggressively blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of Africa and the global south in the years after 1996. The film investigates how this caused over ten million unnecessary deaths and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back.

Fire In The Blood was shot on four continents and tells its remarkable story through the eyes of AIDS patients, front-line clinicians, radical health professionals, pharmaceutical company executives and global figures including Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Joseph Stiglitz. It is the never-before-told true story of the remarkable coalition which came together to stop ‘the Crime of the Century’ and save millions of lives in the process.

Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated Indian film Fire in the Blood has been held over for a fourth week at PVR Phoenix in Mumbai, thus becoming the first-ever nonfiction film to achieve a four-week commercial theatrical run in India.

“This is a dream come true and a real testament to the fact that audiences in India are hungering for new and different types of films,” said producer-director Dylan Mohan Gray. “The word of mouth has been just incredible, and definitely the key factor in sustaining interest in Fire in the Blood ”, he added. “I get e-mails, especially from students, every single day telling me how blown away they were by the movie and how they’ve prodded their friends to rush to go see it while it’s still running.”

Fire in the Blood tells the story of a unique and eclectic group of people who came together from India and...

After winning acclaim the world over, an extraordinary Indian film is now coming home. Fire in the Blood, which earlier this year became the first Indian film ever to be selected for the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, the world’s most prestigious and competitive festival for independent films, is releasing in cities around the country on October 11. The film has already released theatrically in the UK, Ireland and the Us to rave reviews.

Directed by Punjabi-Irish filmmaker Dylan Mohan Gray, Fire in the Blood is an intricate tale of ‘medicine, monopoly and malice’ and tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments aggressively blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of Africa and the global south in the years after 1996 – causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths – and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back.

One of the...

An intricate tale of ‘medicine, monopoly and malice’, Fire in the Blood tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments aggressively blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of Africa and the global south in the years after 1996 – causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths - and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back.

Shot on four continents and including contributions from global figures such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Joseph Stiglitz, Fire in the Blood is the never-before-told true story of the remarkable coalition which came together to stop ‘the Crime of the Century’ and save million of lives in the process.

As the film makes clear, however, this story is by no means over. With dramatic past victories having given way to serious setbacks engineered far from public view, the real fight for access to life-saving medicine is almost certainly just beginning.

The original series executive produced by Ridley Scott‘s Scott Free Prods. will focus on a single major news event considered shocking at the time. It will debut Sunday, June 23 at 9 Pm Et as a lead-in to the Morgan Spurlock docu-series Inside Man, which also premieres June 23. Each of the eight episodes of Crime Of The Century focuses on archived and never-before-seen footage, exclusive interviews with witnesses, victims, and investigators of the crimes, offering viewers a virtual scene-of-the-crime vantage point. The premiere episode focuses on the 2001 Washington D.C. sniper attack. The John Lennon killing, the Andrea Yates murders, the Reagan assassination attempt, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Amanda Knox story, the Waco siege and the Unabomber case also will be featured. Crimes of the Century will re-air the same night at 12 midnight, again at 3 Am Et, and several other times during subsequent weekends.

Kate Upton put on a tight dress, jumped on stage with Flo Rida, shook her ass, and poor girl still got upstaged ... by two geeky band dudes. Crime of the century, y'all.Check out TMZ on TV -- click here to see your local listings! Read more...

Universal has its hands on a pitch called Crime of the Century from Wanted and Fast 5 writer Chris Morgan. Crime of the Century “revolves around a high-octance heist with a science fiction twist”. The story spun from Morgan and fellow writer Dan Kunka, who will be writing the script.

But that’s not all that’s peaked our interest in this film. Back in August, SciFi Mafia shared with you an inspired fan film based on the hit video game, Portal, called Portal: No Escape. According to Deadline, Dan Trachtenberg, the director of said short, will be directing Crime of the Century. How’s that for setting a bar high? Color me interested!

Apparently, making a fan film can serve as a way to get into the movie making business – just ask Dan Trachtenberg. Trachtenberg, who became something of an Internet celebrity with the debut of his short film based on the videogame franchise Portal, has been attached to direct Crime of the Century for Universal. The film, which is being pitched as a “high octane heist film with a sci-fi twist” according to Deadline, is based on a pitch from both Trachtenberg and writer Dan Kunka. They brought it to Fast 5 writer Chris Morgan, who will produce with Universal. What’s more interesting than Crime of the Century (and no offense to the film) is that Trachtenberg basically earned the job by making a short fan film and creating Internet...

Read More...

If you’ve been following The Totally Rad Show, then you’re probably already aware that co-host Dan Trachtenberg has a busy plate besides reviewing new movies, tv, games, and duking it out on Flickchart with “Vs“. He’s gained a tremendous amount of exposure recently with his short film Portal: No Escape that takes a gritty look at the world of the video game Portal. Now Universal Pictures has picked up on his momentum and signed both Trachtenberg and scriptwriter Dan Kunka (12 Rounds) to bring to life a sci-fi heist named Crime of the Century, which will be produced by Chris Morgan (Fast Five, Wanted).

Huge congratulations to Dan on reaching for the stars and moving up to feature filmmaking. We at Flickchart wish him all the best and continued success, and can’t wait to add his film to our lists!

(via Deadline)...

Universal Pictures has acquired the sci-fi crime thriller pitch "Crime of the Century" reports Deadline.

The story revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist. Dan Kunka will write the script and Dan Trachtenberg is attached to direct, both having come up with the original idea.

"Fast Five" scribe Chris Morgan will produce. Trachtenberg's "Portal: No Escape" film short became a viral sensation earlier this year with nearly seven million hits.

Sometimes fan films really do pay off. Thanks to the success of his recent YouTube hit, Portal: No Escape, Dan Trachtenberg has just landed a deal to direct his very first feature film. No, it won't be a Portal movie, but according to Deadline, he is now attached to direct a thriller called Crime of the Century for Universal Pictures based on a pitch that he put together with screenwriter Dan Kunka (12 Rounds). The movie was acquired by Universal through Fast & Furious scribe Chris Morgan who has a two-year first-look deal with the studio. Crime of the Century is based on an original idea from Trachtenberg and Kunka that is described as "a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist." Not much else is known about the film thus far, but Kunka also recently sold another spec script to Sony after a major bidding war. That script is called Agent...

The Fast and the Furious franchise is back in a big way after the success of the most recent iteration Fast 5. It seems like fast cars and big muscles will never not be cool, which is great for 5 scribe Chris Morgan, who is currently hard at work on whatever they.ll decide to name the sixth one. According to Deadline, Morgan sold Crime of the Century to Universal, marking the first sale for the writer since the signing of his two year first-look contract with the studio. Century will reportedly be a high-action, sci-fi heist movie, but details beyond that are slim. Pitched by Morgan, the script will be penned by rookie writer Dan Kunka and directed by rookie director Dan Trachtenberg. You may think that having two newbies on board could be risky, and it is, but Trachtenberg made a huge splash a couple months ago with his fan...

Dan Trachtenberg has teamed with Chris Morgan to direct the upcoming sci-fi heist movie Crime of the Century. The director just scored a major YouTube viral with Portal: No Escape based on the Valve video game Portal.

The film is an original idea from Daniel Kunka and Dan Trachtenberg, which revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist.

The science fiction heist film will be produced by Chris Morgan, who has recently become a heavy hitter with screenplays Wanted and Fast Five. Daniel Kunka will be writing the film.

No other details on casting or production date have been released.

Are you ready to witness the Crime of the Century? Deadline reports that Universal has acquired a project indeed titled Crime of the Century, a sci-fi heist movie being written by Daniel Kunka (12 Rounds, Agent Ox). The most exciting part, however, is that attached to direct is Dan Trachtenberg (seen above), the budding director and Totally Rad Show host who's been wowing Hollywood with his fan-favorite shorts - Portal: No Escape and More Than You Can Chew. This is his first feature project he's landed since breaking out with the shorts. This is great news for everyone involved, and it sounds like quite an awesome concept! The only details Deadline has are that it's "original idea hatched by Kunka and Trachtenberg, which revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist." That sounds as vague as when we first heard about Inception, but I've also heard rumors it may...

Universal Pictures has preemptively acquired the rights to Crime of the Century from a pitch by Chris Morgan through a two–year deal he has with the studio.

The movie is set to be directed by Dan Trachtenberg, co–host of the Totally Rad Show and commercial director who recently made huge waves with his short film Portal: No Escape, which was based on the hit puzzle game from Valve. The project is Trachtenberg's feature debut.

Morgan is best known for his action–packed resume, which includes writing the scripts for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Wanted, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and the upcoming 47 Ronin. He'll also be penning the script for the untitled Fast and the Furious 6 for director Justin Lin, who also recently inked a two–year deal with Universal. The deal is the first sale for Morgan.

Writing the screenplay is Dan Kunka, who...

What a steal. Universal Pictures preemptively acquired the movie pitch called “Crime of the Century” in a first look deal from Chris Morgan Productions with the studio. Deadline reported Dan Trachtenberg will be attached direct and Dan Kunka will write the script. Chris Morgan (“Fast 5”) will be involved with the project as a producer under his Chris Morgan Productions company. Jay Polidoro will oversee the project for Universal. Deadline described the film as a story that “revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist.” The original concept was created by Kunka and Trachtenberg. Trachtenberg directed a couple of short films in the past. Most recently, he released the live-action short film “Portal: No Escape” based on the video game series Portal. He has also directed commercials for Lexus, Nike and Coca-Cola. As for Kunka, he wrote the script for 2009’s action film “12 Rounds,” which starred John Cena and Ashley Scott.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie news column that has been working really hard lately at its other job. So if it gets a little loopy this evening, please cut it some slack. We begin tonight with Keanu Reeves and Chloe Moretz reenacting a scene from Taxi Driver. It’s part of a photo spread in Harper’s Bazaar celebrating the work of Martin Scorsese. Something about this is a little creepy. Thanks to the ease of buying comics on my iPad through the convenient-as-all-hell DC Comics app, I’ve been reading a lot of the DC new 52 over the last few days. Which led me to trying to get some insight from some comics experts. In trying to filter through to the best stuff, I’ve consulted with this UnderWire article that rates the new 52: the best and worst of the DC reboots. If...

[1] Universal Pictures and screenwriter-turned-producer Chris Morgan (Wanted, Fast Five, 47 Ronin) has signed Dan Trachtenberg [2] to direct a sci-fi action heist film titled Crime of the Century. Not much is known about the project. Deadline [3] reports that the story "revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist." I'm very excited to hear more about the project. Some of you might recognize Trachtenberg from his appearances on the /Filmcast [4]. More people know Dan from his popular internet television show the Totally Rad Show [5]. Trachtenberg has been directing commercials for the last few years, slowly working towards his feature film directorial debut. In May, he directed a horror short film "More Than You Can Chew" [6] for Black Box TV, and in August he released a short film based on the video game Portal titled Portal: No Escape [7] which was seen be over 6.7 million people and became the #2 highest rated video of...

Universal Pictures has acquired the pitch "Crime of the Century," TheWrap has confirmed. Daniel Kunka is writing. Dan Trachtenberg is directing. Universal favorite Chris Morgan, who's writing "The Fast and the Furious 6," will produce through his Chris Morgan Productions. Morgan wrote three other "Fast and Furious" films. The movie is a sci-fi heist film, but few details were available Thursday night. Universal's Jay Polidoro is overseeing for the studio. Kunka is repped by ICM, Adam Kolbrenner of Madhouse Entertainment and attorney Sean A. Marks, of Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Light Llp. Trachtenberg is repped by...

Universal has acquired a pitch entitled Crime of the Century for Fast Five scribe Chris Morgan to produce. Per Deadline, the original film “revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist.” Dan Trachtenberg, who directed the short film based on the Portal video game that had the web abuzz a few months ago. Trachtenberg will write the script alongside Daniel Kunka. Morgan is currently scripting the sixth film in the Fast and Furious franchise, with Justin Lin back at the helm after the surprisingly successful Fast Five. I thought Trachtenberg’s short film was really well made, and after seeing it figured he’d make a pretty cool sci-fi film if given the chance. It looks like he’s got his chance, and with Universal behind the pic he’s likely to have a hefty effects budget at his disposal. Hit the jump to watch his short film,...

Late this August, the short Portal: No Escape hit the web and made a huge splash, racking up almost 7 million views. Inspired by Valve’s popular videogame, it paid off for director Dan Trachtenberg, who has mostly dabbled in commercials thus far. If you are like me, you may recognize the up-and-comer as a co-host on the popular Revision3 web series The Totally Rad Show. He is about to make a jump into Hollywood in a big way.

Deadline reports he is attached to direct the heist film Crime of the Century for Universal Pictures. The studio is working with Wanted and Fast Five scribe Chris Morgan and his production company. Daniel Kunka (12 Rounds) and Trachtenberg came up with the idea, with the former writing the script that “revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist.”

As someone who has followed Trachtenberg’s work for years as a...

Fast Five's Chris Morgan has made his first sale to Universal Pictures. Deadline reports that the studio picked up Crime of the Century as part of his two-year first look deal at the studio. The script will be penned by Dan Kunka with Dan Trachtenberg attached to direct, with Morgan producing under his Chris Morgan Productions banner. Trachtenberg gained a lot of off attention when he released his short film Portal: No Escape went viral on YouTube with close to 7 million hits.

The original concept created by Kunka and Trachtenberg, revolves around "a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist." Morgan is writing Fast 6 and has films like Wanted and 47 Ronin to his credits. Check out Trachtenberg's short film below:

I love the direction tha the Fast and Furious franchise is taking with heists, so I am excited to see Crime of the Century. What are your thoughts?

Source: Deadline (http://www.

Exclusive: Universal Pictures has preemptively acquired Crime of the Century, a pitch that marks the first sale for Fast 5 scribe Chris Morgan since he signed a two-year first look deal at the studio. Dan Kunka will write the script and Dan Trachtenberg is attached to direct, with Morgan producing under his Chris Morgan Productions banner. Trachtenberg created a stir recently when his short film Portal: No Escape was posted on YouTube and got close to 7 million hits. The seven-minute film is inspired by the video game series. Crime of the Century is an original idea hatched by Kunka and Trachtenberg, which revolves around a high-octane heist with a science fiction twist. Kunka notches his second big sale this year after his spec Agent Ox sold to Sony and produce Neal Moritz. As for Morgan, he’s writing Fast & Furious 6 and is a go to guy for Universal on big films,...

Back in August, commercials director Dan Trachtenberg turned some heads (about seven million of them) with his impressive YouTube-posted short based on Valve's Portal videogames. If it was intended as a calling-card, it worked, since Trachtenberg has just been "attached" by Universal to Crime of the Century.Portal: No Escape was, as you'd expect, heavy on the slick sci-fi visuals (there was no cake, but then the cake is a lie), and it seems that we can expect something stylistically similar from Crime of the Century. Deadline describe it as "a high-octane heist thriller with a science-fiction twist".Given that the film will be produced by Fast 5 and Wanted writer Chris Morgan, "high octane" sounds about right. Morgan is currently the golden boy at Universal, with a two-year first-look deal. Crime of the Century is currently only at the pitch stage, but the studio were obviously keen on what they heard.

Dan Trachtenberg, the commercials director who recently released the short fan film Portal: No Escape , is set to direct Crime of the Century at Universal Pictures. Deadline has the news, saying that project is based off an idea from Trachtenberg and screenwriter Daniel Kunka. Little is known about the specifics of the film's plot, though it is said to be a heist film with science fiction elements. The film will be produced by Chris Morgan, who has recently taken a turn to producing after successful screenplays like Wanted and Fast Five . Kunka, meanwhile, is best known for writing 12 Rounds and the upcoming Agent Ox .

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By Harvey F. Chartrand

Michael Moriarty, who starred in such classic films as Who’ll Stop the Rain and Pale Rider, exiled himself to Canada in 1995, following a nasty confrontation with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in a Washington, D.C. hotel room. Moriarty was invited along with network television executives and producers to hear Reno’s views on censorship of TV violence. Law and Order, one of the least violent shows on television, was cited as a major offender. Incensed by Reno's campaign to “forcibly end violence on television and trample on rights of free expression as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution,” Moriarty quit the series and left the U.S. in protest. He has been a landed immigrant in Canada ever since. Why the fateful encounter with Reno led to a radical (and seemingly overnight) transformation of Moriarty’s...

The Last House on the Left

Directed by Wes Craven

Screenplay by Wes Craven

1972, USA

Much like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I Spit On Your Grave, Last House on the Left is a prime example of the discrepancy of censorship in independent horror films. The film developed such a bad reputation that it was banned in several countries due to scenes of sadism and violence, and in 1982 was put on the “video nasties” list by the Department of Public Prosecutions. But thanks to critics such as Mark Kermode and Roger Ebert, who praised the film as an important piece of work, it eventually picked up a rabid cult following, and is still ranked by mane as one of Craven’s best films.

Loosely based on Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, the exploitation flick follows two teenage girls (on route to score some weed before a rock concert), who...

Clint Eastwood’s upcoming biopic J. Edgar written by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, is shaping up to be a stellar movie with Eastwood directing and Leonardo DiCaprio on board as the infamous first director and founding member of the Us Federal Bureau of Investigation: J. Edgar Hoover. Now comes word from Deadline that Josh Lucas (Poseidon, Sweet Home Alabama) has joined the project as another famous historic figure, renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh, the man who’s family was at the center of the “Crime of the Century” when his child (who was famously sensationalized as The Lindbergh Baby) was kidnapped and murdered in 1932. This story will be a subplot that ties into the involvement of Hoover in one of the most important cases of his career.

Deadline also reports that Naomi Watts (Fair Game, The International, The Ring) has signed on to play Hoover’s trusted loyal secretary Helen Gandy,...

Josh Lucas has been cast as aviator Charles Lindbergh in Clint Eastwood's new film J. Edgar, based on the life of J. Edgar Hoover. Lucas will star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, who is playing Hoover, Armie Hammer as his assistant/closeted lover Clyde Tolson, Damon Herriman as Bruno Hauptmann, the man convicted of kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby,  Judie Dench, and Ed Westwick as Agent Smith, a clean-cut operative with writing skills.

I think Lucas is an underrated actor who doesn't get enough really good movie roles. He's a talented actor, and I've enjoyed the movies that he's been in. I think he is a great fit for the role of Lindbergh. 

Here's a litte rundown on Charles Linbergh:

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Lindbergh relentlessly used his fame to help promote the rapid development of U.S. commercial aviation. In March 1932, however, his infant son, Charles,...

Clint Eastwood will soon be shooting J. Edgar, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as his right hand man and rumored lover, Clyde Tolson. We haven't known a great deal about the film, but now Mr. Hammer has talked a bit about the film, letting us know a bit of what we can expect to see. Vulture [1] offers up some tidbits, which can be quickly summarized as such: Judi Dench, recently cast [2], is confirmed as the mother of J. Edgar Hoover. There will be at least one onscreen kiss between Hoover and Tolson. While most of the script features versions of the men in their '30s, there are a couple flashforwards that see them in their '70s. For those sequences makeup will be used to age the actors. Hammer says, "I'm playing Toulson up to his elderly age!

Yee-haw! It's Shania Twain Week on American Idol. Yet while the dormant country superstar proved to be a fabulous guest judges during the season 9 Chicago audition episode, I can't help but feel that the show's remaining six contestants will be navigating a minefield choosing from the pre-approved list of 50 Shania tracks currently streaming at iTunes (and listed after the jump). Past history has already shown us the perils of tackling some of Twain's campier, uptempo tunes on the Idol stage: In season 5, early front-runner Mandisa got the boot after tanking on "Any Man of Mine," while season 4 victor Carrie Underwood...

Shania Twain will make her American Idol return this week and will mentor the final 6 contestants as they try to perfect one of her own songs.

Shania last popped up as a guest judge on the show last year, after Paula Abdul left but before Ellen DeGeneres started. In fact if I remember correctly it was down to her lusting urges that John Park (remember him) made it through to Hollywood week, she also championed recent eliminee Katelyn Epperley after she auditioned in Chicago.

iTunes have published the following list of songs which the contestants will be allowed to choose from and while I think Casey James and Crystal Bowersox will select a song with ease, it may be a harder task for people like Siobhan and Michael…neither ones voice really lends itself to a country style…. We think the group need to steer themselves away from Shania’s more popular tracks,...

Country is coming and Shania Twain is coming back to "American Idol" next week. Fox previously told Zap2it that she was not confirmed, so we're glad they got Shania locked in to mentor, as she was an excellent guest judge.

Fox also announced performances by Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts for the results show on Wednesday, April 28.

We do have to say that we wish the catalog was just country music and not specific to Shania. She's great, very talented vocalist. But her songs are in that beautiful-woman-pop-country vein and it really limits the contestants. We fear there could be some bad Kountry Karaoke in store. It will certainly be an interesting week, to say the least.

We definitely think the Idols need to steer clear of the really well-known Shania songs because we've all heard them a zillion times, plus then tend to be Women Power songs ("Any Man of Mine,...