News

It’s Monday, so we all know what that means! Yes, it’s time for another rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s a jam-packed week, with plenty of movies waiting to take you money, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, October 1st 2012.

Pick Of The Week

Automan: The Complete Series (DVD)

Walter Nebicher is the police department’s resident computer geek, his immediate superiors think Walter’s place is behind the desk and not on the streets. However, Walter has other ideas. Walter’s expertise in computer programming is unparalleled and he creates a special program, ‘Automan’, an artificially intelligent computer hologram that looks real, sounds real and given enough power can physically exist in the real world. Together, Walter and Automan along with Cursor, a small floating...

Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek

(from the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival)

Directed by: James Wan

Written by: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Ty Simpkins and Lin Shaye

From minute one of the opening credits of “Insidious,” you know you’re in for an old-fashioned scare. Utilizing a score screaming with strings, director James Wan (“Saw”) transports us to the “Exorcist” era of the genre, not relying on many of the new technological gimmicks relied on recently by other filmmakers.

When a young family (Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson and their kids) move into an Amityville-style home, what begins as creaks and cracks becomes critical when their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) slips into a coma of sorts and “travelers” begin to visit the house. When moving to a new home doesn’t stem the tide of ghouls, the couple reluctantly calls on the services of a sincere...

Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek

(from the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival)

Directed by: James Wan

Written by: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Ty Simpkins and Lin Shaye

From minute one of the opening credits of “Insidious,” you know you’re in for an old-fashioned scare. Utilizing a score screaming with strings, director James Wan (“Saw”) transports us to the “Exorcist” era of the genre, not relying on many of the new technological gimmicks relied on recently by other filmmakers.

When a young family (Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson and their kids) move into an Amityville-style home, what begins as creaks and cracks becomes critical when their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) slips into a coma of sorts and “travelers” begin to visit the house. When moving to a new home doesn’t stem the tide of ghouls, the couple reluctantly calls on the services of a sincere...

Briefly: It's not much, and this is basically just us helping out the publicity department at Warner Bros., but the website for Green Lantern is now live. All you'll find at the moment is a swirling ball of green light that resolves into the film's lantern logo. There's not even much in the source code for the site -- nothing like the Ascii image of Jeff Bridges found in the Tron Legacy soundtrack site, for example. Just buried metatags proclaiming the film's synopsis and cast, all of which you can read (again) below. In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called ...

Even though its been only six months since Star Trek first hit theaters, THR is making a big deal out of the fact that Zachary Quinto hasn't lined up a single project following that very big role. Of course, he was still on "Heroes," but everyone thinks he needs more cinematic roles. Well, THR is reporting that Quinto is very loosely attached to a romantic dramedy called Whirligig, a Canadian independent film where he'd play a man who, in a misguided attempt to woo an older woman, befriends the woman's adopted son. Shooting is set to start early next year, but they're unsure if everything will work out because Quinto is very selective. Whirligig is to be directed by Chaz Thorne (Just Buried), based on a screenplay by Michael Amo, creator of the Canadian supernatural series "The Listener," which aired on NBC. It'd be quite interesting, and fun, to see...

Cinema is filled with multi-talented young actors who bring to life all types of characters. Sometimes, a role is given to the wrong guy - just because he has the looks (pin-up pretty, looks awesome wearing trunks) and the connection (a powerful talent agent at his side). But when the role is given to the right guy - moviegoers get to witness something unique, memorable and powerful, even magical. Anyway, even the 'right guy' needs an agent, of course...

- - -

- - - Underrated versus Overrated: If you've watched Jumper, then you'll notice the difference between Jamie Bell and Hayden Christensen - Bell has undeniable screen presence, I can't say the same with Hayden. It could have been different if Tom Sturridge was retained to play Hayden's part. Anyway, who am I to argue? Christensen has more box office appeal than the relatively unknown Sturridge, but acting-wise?

So,...

Cinema is filled with multi-talented young actors who bring to life all types of characters. Sometimes, a role is given to the wrong guy - just because he has the looks (pin-up pretty, looks awesome wearing trunks) and the connection (a powerful talent agent at his side). But when the role is given to the right guy - moviegoers get to witness something unique, memorable and powerful, even magical. Anyway, even the 'right guy' needs an agent, of course...

- - -

- - - Underrated versus Overrated: If you've watched Jumper, then you'll notice the difference between Jamie Bell and Hayden Christensen - Bell has undeniable screen presence, I can't say the same with Hayden. It could have been different if Tom Sturridge was retained to play Hayden's part. Anyway, who am I to argue? Christensen has more box office appeal than the relatively unknown Sturridge, but acting-wise?

So,...

Cinema is filled with multi-talented young actors who bring to life all types of characters. Sometimes, a role is given to the wrong guy - just because he has the looks (pin-up pretty, looks awesome wearing trunks) and the connection (a powerful talent agent at his side). But when the role is given to the right guy - moviegoers get to witness something unique, memorable and powerful, even magical. Anyway, even the 'right guy' needs an agent, of course...

- - -

- - - Underrated versus Overrated: If you've watched Jumper, then you'll notice the difference between Jamie Bell and Hayden Christensen - Bell has undeniable screen presence, I can't say the same with Hayden. It could have been different if Tom Sturridge was retained to play Hayden's part. Anyway, who am I to argue? Christensen has more box office appeal than the relatively unknown Sturridge, but acting-wise?

So,...

Cinema is filled with multi-talented young actors who bring to life all types of characters. Sometimes, a role is given to the wrong guy - just because he has the looks (pin-up pretty, looks awesome wearing trunks) and the connection (a powerful talent agent at his side). But when the role is given to the right guy - moviegoers get to witness something unique, memorable and powerful, even magical. Anyway, even the 'right guy' needs an agent, of course...

- - -

- - - Underrated versus Overrated: If you've watched Jumper, then you'll notice the difference between Jamie Bell and Hayden Christensen - Bell has undeniable screen presence, I can't say the same with Hayden. It could have been different if Tom Sturridge was retained to play Hayden's part. Anyway, who am I to argue? Christensen has more box office appeal than the relatively unknown Sturridge, but acting-wise?

So,...

Cinema is filled with multi-talented young actors who bring to life all types of characters. Sometimes, a role is given to the wrong guy - just because he has the looks (pin-up pretty, looks awesome wearing trunks) and the connection (a powerful talent agent at his side). But when the role is given to the right guy - moviegoers get to witness something unique, memorable and powerful, even magical. Anyway, even the 'right guy' needs an agent, of course...

- - -

- - - Underrated versus Overrated: If you've watched Jumper, then you'll notice the difference between Jamie Bell and Hayden Christensen - Bell has undeniable screen presence, I can't say the same with Hayden. It could have been different if Tom Sturridge was retained to play Hayden's part. Anyway, who am I to argue? Christensen has more box office appeal than the relatively unknown Sturridge, but acting-wise?

So,...

In the last few years, Rose Byrne has proven herself an actress fond of unconventional choices. Unafraid of horror, sci-fi and related genre material, her recent outings to the dark side have ranged from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s better-than-anyone-expected sequel 28 Weeks Later to the jet-black comedy Just Buried. Her latest film—and venture into the paranormal—is Knowing, directed by fellow Australian Alex Proyas of The Crow and Dark City fame.

Knowing finds Byrne playing Diana Wayland, the daughter of a disturbed little girl from 1959 who penned cryptic numbers that foretell horrifying present-day disasters. Now a single mother, she’s called on by astrophysics professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) for assistance in figuring out what it all means.

“I don’t know, I guess you get cast in one thing, and then it’s pretty straightforward,” says Byrne, discussing her recent streak of gloom-and-doom projects.

Written and directed by Chaz Thorne, Just Buried is a Canadian macabre comedy about Oliver Whynacht (Jay Baruchel - Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder), who inherits a funeral home from his father whom he never knew too well. The only problem is nobody passed away in the town for almost a year and whoever dies is picked up by a rival home whose pushy owner even tries to buy out the struggling business. With the help of beautifful mortician Roberta (Rose Byrne - Briseis from Troy), bodies soon start appearing all over the county, bringing new bodies for the funeral home almost every week. How long can the couple keep up the game before finally uncovers their scheme or their relationship crumbles?

Just Buried is the first commercially released score of composer Darren Fung, who provides a quirky underscore for the macabre fun. Darren was kind enough to answer some questions on Just Buried,...

Greetings Fango Fiends and Ghoulish Goblins! Psycho Bunny is back for another look at the past week in deliciously gorey goodness from the world of Fangoria. While much of the Fango Family is still entrenched at the New York Comic-con this weekend, I'm here in the depths of the Fangoria Dungeon strapped to my laptop and ready to kill thrill you. It was another huge week, with much of the horror community buzzing about our exclusive look at Gary Tunnicliffe's proposed reimagining of Hellraiser's Pinhead. If you missed it, you can catch up below.

Fangoria Entertainment News:

-Christmas Evil reunion set for La Fango con

-Keir Dullea, Elizabeth Banks & More on the Fangoria Podcast!

-Many dimensions to Fangoria Radio tonight!

-Adrienne King headlines Walking Distance panel at La Fango con

-Lance Henriksen & More added to the Fangoria Podcast!

-X Files director R.W. Goodwin doin’ Chicago Fango...

Last month, Fangoria brought you a few exclusive clips from Chaz Thorne's Just Buried in the weeks leading up to the film's release on DVD. Now that the film is out, our friends over at Liberation Entertainment decided to share 2 final exclusive clips from the DVD, along with a montage of actress Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later). Check 'em out after the jump, and check out our previous coverage starting here.

Synopsis: "Oliver (Jay Baruchel) is destined for an uneventful life until the day he and his brother Jackie breeze into town to attend the funeral of their estranged father. To everyone's bewilderment, Oliver inherits his father's estate - a funeral home.

Oliver learns from the handyman Henry (Graham Greene) that the home is on the verge of bankruptcy. That night, his life gets increasingly complicated when he takes a drunken drive with the bewitching embalmer Roberta (Rose Byrne) and collides with a hiker.

Greetings Fango Fiends! It's another Sunday here in the Fangoria Dungeon and that means it's time for another look back at the past seven days of blood-soaked horror delights. It was a glorious week here at Fango, as we announced our 30th Anniversary Celebration, Previewed Issue #281, and dropped the news that Shock*N*Roll would return to Chicago. For those of you not familiar with how this works, I've taken the entire week and broken it down by category with linked headlines. Let's get started!

Fangoria Entertainment Updates:

-Fangoria Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary! Frightful Festivities Continue All Year Long

-Sneak-Peek: Fangoria #281

-Mushroomhead to perform at the Chicago Weekend Of Horrors Shock*N*Roll Spooktacular!

-Tickets for Mushroomhead's Chicago Weekend of Horrors concert On-sale Now!

-Preview: Fangoria & Robot Monster give you 6 Days of Monster Musick!

-Get a Rise out of Fangoria Radio!

-Laid To Rest panel set for 2009 La Fango con...

Liberation Entertainment just sent Fango a third exclusive clip from Chaz Thorne's award-winning horror/comedy Just Buried (Clip 1, Clip 2, Fearful Feature here), which stars Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) and Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder). The film arrives on DVD this Tuesday, January 27th. Check out the kill scene after the jump!

Synopsis: "Oliver (Jay Baruchel) is destined for an uneventful life until the day he and his brother Jackie breeze into town to attend the funeral of their estranged father. To everyone's bewilderment, Oliver inherits his father's estate - a funeral home.

Oliver learns from the handyman Henry (Graham Greene) that the home is on the verge of bankruptcy. That night, his life gets increasingly complicated when he takes a drunken drive with the bewitching embalmer Roberta (Rose Byrne) and collides with a hiker.

Roberta cleverly disguises the fatality as an accident, providing Oliver with his first paying...

Hello to all the little goblins out there in Fangoland! Psycho Bunny here with a look back at another fabulous week in horror. It was quite a week as My Bloody Valentine 3-D finally hit theaters, Fangoria rocked iTunes, and Park City was infested by a Zombie Girl. It's the entire week, broken down by category and easy to absorb in tasty little nuggets of blood-drenched goodness.

Fangoria Entertainment News & Updates:

Fangoria is now on iTunes! Free clips from Fangoria Radio, Podcasts, and coming soon... Music! Fangoria Subscriptions - Now Use PayPal Subscribe to Fangoria and save up to 40% off the cover price! Bloody Blogs:

Chronicles of a Serial Killer- Part One from Fangoria Spooksmodel Shannon Lark! Gay Of The Dead Blog 2: 4E For Me the 2nd installment of Sean Abley's Gay Of The Dead! Tiger Beat & Torture Porn: A Reflection Troma Chief Lloyd Kaufman delivers his 2nd Blog for Fangoria!

Last week Fango gave you a look at the first in a series of exclusive clips from Chaz Thorne's award-winning horror/comedy Just Buried (see clip here, Fearful Feature here). Today we've got another one for you, in preparation for the film's DVD release later this month. Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) and Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder) star.

Synopsis: "Oliver (Jay Baruchel) is destined for an uneventful life until the day he and his brother Jackie breeze into town to attend the funeral of their estranged father. To everyone's bewilderment, Oliver inherits his father's estate - a funeral home.

Oliver learns from the handyman Henry (Graham Greene) that the home is on the verge of bankruptcy. That night, his life gets increasingly complicated when he takes a drunken drive with the bewitching embalmer Roberta (Rose Byrne) and collides with a hiker.

Roberta cleverly disguises the fatality as an accident,...

Greetings Fango Fiends! Psycho Bunny here with another look back at the past seven days of blood-soaked horror goodness. The first full week of 2009 kicked off with a bloody Bang. with loads of Fangoria Exclusives, reviews, and more. For those not familiar with how this goes, I've broken down the entire week by section so that you can catch up on any news that may have passed you by!

Fangoria Entertainment Updates:

Fangoria to co-sponsor Underworld Charity Prop Auction Gay Of The Dead: Fangoria.com’s new Bloody Blog Get a scary start to 2009 on Fangoria Radio! Sideshow Collectibles Win The Dead Winners!

Fearful Features & Bloody Blogs:

Netherbeast Incorporated: Jobs at Stake Rip Ray Dennis Steckler Gay Of The Dead: Blog 1 from Sean Abley Horror Art from Down Under - from The Art Of Horror Heavy Red from Cult Couture Ole Bornedal: Not Just Another Genre Director by...

With Chaz Thorne's award-winning horror/comedy Just Buried (see Fearful Feature here) getting ready to arrive on DVD later this month, Fango just snagged the first in a series of exclusive clips from the film, which stars Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) and Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder).

Synopsis: "Oliver (Jay Baruchel) is destined for an uneventful life until the day he and his brother Jackie breeze into town to attend the funeral of their estranged father. To everyone's bewilderment, Oliver inherits his father's estate - a funeral home.

Oliver learns from the handyman Henry (Graham Greene) that the home is on the verge of bankruptcy. That night, his life gets increasingly complicated when he takes a drunken drive with the bewitching embalmer Roberta (Rose Byrne) and collides with a hiker.

Roberta cleverly disguises the fatality as an accident, providing Oliver with his first paying customer and launching the...

As the theaters fill with serious fright fare for Halloween, there’s a new, deliciously evil little comedy from Canada making the cinema scene. It’s called Just Buried, and while it may not be horror in the strictest sense, it contains enough macabre sensibility, twisted humor and gruesome deaths to satisfy any genre fan.

Starring rising comedy star Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder) and up-and-coming genre darling Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later, Sunshine), and written/directed by newcomer Chaz Thorne, Just Buried is making its latest stop this weekend at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Sunset 5 for midnight showings (purchase tickets here). The story centers on a young man named Oliver (Baruchel), who comes home to a small town in Nova Scotia for his father’s funeral. Ollie inherits the family business, a funeral home in a town with a drought of corpses. Facing bankruptcy and failure, he and his adorably odd coroner/mortician girlfriend,...

The Weinstein Company has, according to Slash Film, moved Fanboys from November to open February 6, 2009, another delay. The studio picked up Fanboy for release some time back and the utterly charming tale of friends trying to get their dying friend to see The Phantom Menace has been hung up ever since.

Clearly they have little faith in the film given it will now open opposite Push, Pink Panther 2, and the Jennifer Aniston’s He’s Just Not That Into You.

When they picked up the movie, it was essentially complete and ready for release but instead, the Weinsteins wanted to tinker with it and the creators and fans were horrified at the notion that the charm might be replaced with something different. They decided to reedit the film their way then test screen both versions before deciding which one to release.

Weinstein decided the cancer subplot was too downbeat and...

All Hallow's Eve is approaching once again, and my favorite part of the holiday is all the corresponding movies that turn up on television and in theaters. October is already over a week old, so it's time to get into a Halloween frame of mind.

The Unborn

When I last saw Odette Yustman she was one of several New Yorkers fleeing for her life from a large beastie with nasty pointy teeth in Cloverfield. The Unborn has her facing a different kind of evil, specifically the spirit of her twin brother who died in the womb, or perhaps it's an evil entity that hoped to enter the world through him (it's a little hard to tell). There are some nightmarish visuals on display here, and the crawling thing with its head twisted around both sticks with me and makes me wonder if it's an homage to the spider walk scene in The Exorcist.

We just received word that a new death-themed comedy is premiering this weekend in New York, and while it’s not horror in the strictest sense, I bet more than a few of you will want to check it out.

It’s called Just Buried and is the debut feature from Chaz Thorne. The story follows a geeky loner named Oliver (Tropic Thunder’s Jay Baruchel) who inherits a funeral home in a town with one of the lowest mortality rates imaginable. After a fatal accident, however, Oliver conspires with the funeral home’s cute embalmer Roberta (Rose Byrne) to find a way to keep business coming in, and pretty soon they’re making a killing.

Get it? Making a killing? C’mon, it’s funny!

Anyway, Just Buried is premiering in New York this Friday, October 3rd, and the Village East Theater will even be hosting a Sexy Mortician...

By Neil Pedley

At the multiplex this week, we have some pre-Halloween gothic fancy, films about the two things guaranteed to start a fight in any elevator . religion and politics . and a little music from Nick and Norah and Jonathan Demme's infinite playlists.

"Allah Made Me Funny"

When Albert Brooks went looking for comedy in the Muslim world, he perhaps didn't consider that it was alive and well inside our shores. Filmmaker Andrea Kalin picked up her camera and hit the road with Muslim American stand-up comics Azhar Usman, Mo Amer and Preacher Moss, who started the tour in 2004 to combat the negative stereotypes associated with their faith by sharing their unique brand of humor. The film intersperses their routines with personal vignettes that show how the comedians employ laughter as a tool of information to entertain, to educate and to show that a good mother-in-law gag simply knows no boundaries.

Check out the latest movie poster from the upcoming comedy “Just Buried” by director Chaz Thorne and starring Rose Byrne (Knowing, 28 Weeks Later), Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Fanboys, Tropic Thunder) and Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves). Synpopsis: A young man inherits a nearly bankrupt funeral home from his estranged father. He falls in love with the alluring young mortician, only to find out she’s offing people to keep the place in business! Stay tuned to Toxic Shock TV for the latest “Just Buried” movie posters and more.

• Born from a festival that had everything to do with laughs and nothing to do with cinema, now in their 12th edition, the Just For Laughs Film Fest have pretty much developed their identity, attracted name films and talent. This year's fest will begin with a Bang! or I should say a Bong! with David Gordon Green and the Apatow team (Seth Rogen, co-writer Evan Goldberg, co-star Danny McBride) coming down with one of the rare advance premieres of Pineapple Express and a Q&A. Other special guests and accompanying films include: Father and son team of the Reitmans (Ivan and Jason for those coming out of a coma) presenting a Master Class on filmmaking on July 18. Sundance hit Baghead from Jay & Mark Duplass gets a screening on July 14th and the 20th studio fair with Rainn Wilson (The Office) starring in The Rocker. The Deal – a film adapted

...

Who says murder can't be funny?

Liberation Entertainment has dug deep to acquire domestic distribution rights to writer-director Chaz Thorne's Just Buried, a black comedy produced by Trilogy Entertainment and Standing 8 Prods. A fall release is planned.

Buried, which premiered in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows the increasingly questionable exploits of a young man who inherits his late father's struggling funeral home and with the help of a cute mortician starts providing his new company with business.

Since its 2006 launch, Liberation has distributed Shotgun Stories and The Hottie and the Nottie and has the upcoming Take, "Tokyo!" and Kicking It.

Submarine and CAA negotiated on behalf of Thorne.

TORONTO -- Boxing drama Poor Boy's Game, starring Danny Glover, was the big winner as the Atlantic Film Festival dished out its trophies Friday.

Clement Virgo's latest film, shot last year in Halifax, won trophies for best Atlantic Canadian movie and original screenplay for Virgo and Chaz Thorne as the festival handed out trophies Friday.

Bill Fleming picked up the art direction prize for his work on the film, which bowed in Berlin.

Halifax-based Chaz Thorne also picked up the festival's best director trophy for Just Buried, his debut feature about a young loner, played by Jay Baruchel, who unexpectedly inherits his estranged father's struggling funeral home.

The other big winner in Halifax was Toronto director Bruce McDonald, who grabbed the best Canadian feature prize for The Tracey Fragments, a drama about a young girl looking for her younger brother, who thinks he's a dog.

The movie's lead, Halifax-based Ellen Page, took home the best actress trophy, while the best actor nod went to veteran Quebec actor Roy Dupuis for his turn in Shake Hands With the Devil, which opened the festival on Sept.