One of my favorite activities is to go with a few friends and do an Escape the Room game. I’ve done them in multiple states across the country, and even done one in Dubai. They’re an absolute blast. So, despite the iffy Trailer and troubling release date, I was looking forward to Escape Room. Maybe it could surprise? I’d even heard a bit of positive buzz. Then, earlier this week…I saw it. Alas. This is a standard issue garbage January release, truly meant to be dumped. In fact, even though it’s early, I wouldn’t be surprised at all for it to end up in 12 months gracing my Bottom Ten list for 2019. This film is a horror/thriller hybrid that mixes in adventure concepts. A cold open shows us one unlucky individual in Ben (Logan Miller) desperately trying to escape a room with its walls literally closing in.
- 1/3/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Production is under way on “The Whistleblower,” one of the biggest Australian-Chinese co-production movies ever made. The film is a thriller about a Chinese expatriate who discovers a conspiracy at the firm he is working for.
The film is directed by Chinese woman director Xue Xiaolu, who achieved a critical breakthrough in 2010 by putting Jet Li in a drama role in “Ocean Heaven.”She achieved commercial success with 2013 romance “Finding Mr Right.”
The cast is headed by Lei Jiayin (“Guns and Roses”) and “Lust, Caution” and “Finding Mr Right” star Tang Wei, with Xi Qi and John Batchelor (“Red Dog”). Dialog is in Mandarin and English.
The official co-production film has a gross budget of some $39 (A$55 million) before rebates and incentives. At least $28.5 million (A$40 million) is being spent in the state of Victoria, where the Dockyards Studios are being used. Filming continues through October.
Production is by Australia-Chinese joint venture company Perfect Village,...
The film is directed by Chinese woman director Xue Xiaolu, who achieved a critical breakthrough in 2010 by putting Jet Li in a drama role in “Ocean Heaven.”She achieved commercial success with 2013 romance “Finding Mr Right.”
The cast is headed by Lei Jiayin (“Guns and Roses”) and “Lust, Caution” and “Finding Mr Right” star Tang Wei, with Xi Qi and John Batchelor (“Red Dog”). Dialog is in Mandarin and English.
The official co-production film has a gross budget of some $39 (A$55 million) before rebates and incentives. At least $28.5 million (A$40 million) is being spent in the state of Victoria, where the Dockyards Studios are being used. Filming continues through October.
Production is by Australia-Chinese joint venture company Perfect Village,...
- 9/27/2018
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The short that inspired it packs more frights into its 3+ minutes of running time.
At the root of all fears lies the dread of the unknown that hides and bides its time in the dark. Exploiting this ground zero human anxiety, David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out strips the bells and whistles from a basic notion and turns darkness itself –or an entity empowered by it– into a relentless villain. Perhaps because its premise is too simple to a fault, the scribe Eric Heisserer, working off of an identically-titled 2013 short film by Sandberg, stuffs an unconvincing “troubled child” back-story beneath the film’s intriguing yet thin shell. The result is neither effectively frightening nor persuasive. The feature-length Lights Out is your typical below-average horror flick in a lot of ways: some successful jump scares, an undercooked script, and shaky dialogue you’re occasionally willing to forgive in exchange of competent direction and random moments of comic relief...
At the root of all fears lies the dread of the unknown that hides and bides its time in the dark. Exploiting this ground zero human anxiety, David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out strips the bells and whistles from a basic notion and turns darkness itself –or an entity empowered by it– into a relentless villain. Perhaps because its premise is too simple to a fault, the scribe Eric Heisserer, working off of an identically-titled 2013 short film by Sandberg, stuffs an unconvincing “troubled child” back-story beneath the film’s intriguing yet thin shell. The result is neither effectively frightening nor persuasive. The feature-length Lights Out is your typical below-average horror flick in a lot of ways: some successful jump scares, an undercooked script, and shaky dialogue you’re occasionally willing to forgive in exchange of competent direction and random moments of comic relief...
- 7/22/2016
- by Tomris Laffly
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Why do we still get scared at thing that go bump in the night? At the movies, I mean. Lights Out, the feature-length (well, 80 minutes) film version of a horror short that went viral online, allows Swedish filmmaker David F. Sandberg to earn his stripes as a director in the big leagues. It was horror master James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring) who gave Sandberg the go-ahead for a $5 million feature.
He does a solid job of raising hell. With screenwriter Eric Heisserer fleshing out a 146-second short, Lights Out...
He does a solid job of raising hell. With screenwriter Eric Heisserer fleshing out a 146-second short, Lights Out...
- 7/21/2016
- Rollingstone.com
When the trailer for David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out played in front of a recent general-audience screening for The Conjuring 2 that I attended, I started to feel for the first time that Sandberg might really be onto something with the film, a low-budget horror flick with an ingeniously simple premise: a vicious spirit that can only be seen (and, presumably, hurt you) in the dark. To borrow a phrase from Hitchcock: the trailer played the crowd like a piano. Lights Out is based on Sandberg’s short film of the same name, which went viral after hitting YouTube back in 2014. The three-minute clip ultimately caught the attention of Hollywood horror maestro James Wan, who came on board to produce a feature-length version of the short and even recruited some of his key creative partners (including Furious 7 cinematographer Marc Spicer) to the cause. "This guy has what it takes,...
- 6/24/2016
- by Chris Eggertsen
- Hitfix
Sometimes you go into a movie as a horror fan just hoping that what you’re about to see will deliver the proverbial goods. Such was the case for me with Lights Out; I fell in love with David F. Sandberg’s brilliant short film by the same name when I first saw it, and so I was curious just how well his three-minute tale of terror would translate for longer-form storytelling. Honestly, though, Lights Out ended up being even more fun and terrifying than I could have possibly expected, as it brilliantly preys on our most primal fears and thoughtfully delves into mental health issues, with its villain becoming a metaphor for those who struggle with the all-consuming afflictions of the mind.
Lights Out centers on a young woman named Rebecca (Teresa Palmer from Warm Bodies) who left home years ago after her father vanished on her unstable mother,...
Lights Out centers on a young woman named Rebecca (Teresa Palmer from Warm Bodies) who left home years ago after her father vanished on her unstable mother,...
- 6/9/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The unstoppable global franchise built on speed delivers its best, biggest and boldest film yet as Furious 7 blasts onto Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on September 15, 2015 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office, Furious 7 tears up the screen with more gravity-defying stunts, adrenaline-fueled fight scenes and pulse-pounding action than ever before. The Blu-ray™ features the all new extended edition with even more explosive thrills, along with the official music video of the chart-topping “See You Again” performed by Wiz Khalifa andCharlie Puth and over 90 minutes of exclusive bonus features, making an indispensable addition to the Fast franchise collection.
The entire Fast & Furious cast unites in purpose for an epic international adventure, hunted by a vengeful assassin from Abu Dhabi toLondon to Tokyo and the Dominican Republic as they try to retrieve a highly advanced piece of espionage technology, and rescue the gifted hacker who created it.
Grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office, Furious 7 tears up the screen with more gravity-defying stunts, adrenaline-fueled fight scenes and pulse-pounding action than ever before. The Blu-ray™ features the all new extended edition with even more explosive thrills, along with the official music video of the chart-topping “See You Again” performed by Wiz Khalifa andCharlie Puth and over 90 minutes of exclusive bonus features, making an indispensable addition to the Fast franchise collection.
The entire Fast & Furious cast unites in purpose for an epic international adventure, hunted by a vengeful assassin from Abu Dhabi toLondon to Tokyo and the Dominican Republic as they try to retrieve a highly advanced piece of espionage technology, and rescue the gifted hacker who created it.
- 9/14/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
At this point, the entire Fast & Furious franchise has become nothing but an exercise in one-upping itself. Starting with Fast Five‘s gravity-defying cliff jump, Justin Lin took to Fast & Furious 6 with every intention to blow his previous film’s scope away in a haze of Nos residue – and he did. Lin’s antics cemented a fresh tone of absurdity for future filmmakers to follow, and first up is James Wan with his entry into the car-chasing, muscle-bulging, explosion-heavy franchise.
So how does Furious 7 stack up against Lin’s turbo-fueled ass-kickers? Let’s just say Wan makes a damn good case as to why he left the horror genre behind for a bit, silencing any doubters who thought his transition to be foolish. The boys and girls are back, and you’ll be glad that you are, too.
In Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) latest adventure, the brother...
So how does Furious 7 stack up against Lin’s turbo-fueled ass-kickers? Let’s just say Wan makes a damn good case as to why he left the horror genre behind for a bit, silencing any doubters who thought his transition to be foolish. The boys and girls are back, and you’ll be glad that you are, too.
In Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) latest adventure, the brother...
- 3/16/2015
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
Austin - One of the things that impresses me most about the team that throws the SXSW Film Festival in Austin every year is how adaptable they are. I've seen them roll with all sorts of things, and they seem to me to be open to all sorts of ideas in terms of programming. There was nothing originally scheduled for the Sunday night midnight slot at the Paramount, but when I woke up on Sunday morning, the festival had announced a very special treat for anyone who had a badge for the festival, and anticipation was running high because of which title it was. This coming weekend, I'll be attending the junket for "Furious 7," so I was already scheduled to see the film. But seeing it tonight at the Paramount Theater, completely packed with lunatic movie fans who were all crazy excited to be there was better than any junket screening possibly could be.
- 3/16/2015
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before. A long dolly shot at the Yashida compound on the @wolverinemovie. twitter.com/mang0ld/status…— James Mangold (@mang0ld) March 16, 2013 A panorama of camera "A" at Yashida Compound. Matt Toll (1st AC) and Marc Spicer ("A" Operator extraordinaire). twitter.com/mang0ld/status…— James Mangold (@mang0ld) March 16, 2013 The Wolverine stars Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto and Svetlana Khodchenkova.
- 3/16/2013
- ComicBookMovie.com
On the set of the ABC’s new teen dance drama, Dance Academy, Laine Lister discovered that a love of ballet, weak ankles and chance meetings combine to create a very sweet series.
If you believe in fate, then the uncanny development of ABC teen drama Dance Academy is absolutely a case for it, according to producer Joanna Werner.
It began five years ago when Melbourne-based Werner relocated to the Gold Coast to produce children’s television program H2O: Just Add Water.
Enjoying a pre-shoot tipple, Werner met Sam Strauss – who was working in the casting department of H20 at the time – and the two instantly hit it off. Hours later Strauss quizzed Werner about her dream job.
“I said I’d make a show about a girl from the country who gets into the elite dance school; a teen drama. She thought I was joking,” says Werner laughing as she recalls the fateful conversation.
If you believe in fate, then the uncanny development of ABC teen drama Dance Academy is absolutely a case for it, according to producer Joanna Werner.
It began five years ago when Melbourne-based Werner relocated to the Gold Coast to produce children’s television program H2O: Just Add Water.
Enjoying a pre-shoot tipple, Werner met Sam Strauss – who was working in the casting department of H20 at the time – and the two instantly hit it off. Hours later Strauss quizzed Werner about her dream job.
“I said I’d make a show about a girl from the country who gets into the elite dance school; a teen drama. She thought I was joking,” says Werner laughing as she recalls the fateful conversation.
- 6/8/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
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