Suck This

We wrote last May about the remake of the classic 1980's horror movie, "Fright Night", which this time around will star Colin Farrell as the sexy blood-sucker next-door. These photos from the movie of Farrell and co-star Anton Yelchin were posted on the internet while back, but we just now stumbled upon them.

When we last wrote about the new "Fright Night", almost a year ago, the roles of Peter Vincent, Evil Ed and Amy hadn't been cast yet. But as it turns out, David Tennant, of "Dr. Who" fame, will be the hesitant vampire hunter, and Imogen Poots, ("28 Weeks Later"), will be Amy. In perhaps the most perfect casting of all, though, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, ("Superbad", "Kick-Ass") is Evil Ed. In addition, James Franco's younger brother, Dave, is in the film as 'Mark'.

Hollywood Watch: Vampires and Queens of Rock

Two major Hollywood "remakes" are currently in pre-production and/or filming. One of the remakes is actually a retelling of the story of one of rock's greatest stars, Janis Joplin. After years of development and several actresses attached to the lead role, it looks like Oscar-nominee Amy Adams has finally landed the part of the hard-singing, hard-living rock goddess who died at 27 of a drug overdose. Adams might seem a strange choice for the role; until now Adams has made a career out of playing sweet-natured, quiet, very meek young women, nothing like the loud, boisterous, hard-partying Joplin. But sometimes actors score their greatest triumphs when playing against type, so you never know, this might be the role that finally makes Adams a huge star and wins her that elusive Oscar.

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.(jonathan frid as

"barnabas collins")

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An even more interesting project is the remake of the 1960's gothic soap opera, ABC's "Dark Shadows". For those too young to remember, "Dark Shadows" told the story of Barnabas Collins, a vampire, the Stoddard family, and an assortment of witches, werewolves, ghosts, etc. For those of us of a particular generation, it was the show that we ran home from school everyday to see, only to have the bejesus scared out of us for our efforts. Tim Burton is directing, and his go-to star, Johnny Depp, will play Barnabas Collins. We're not sure who else is in the cast of the current movie, but the original cast of the 1966-71 t.v. show had some interesting members..(the cast of "dark shadows").

(johnny depp as "barnabas collins")

In addition to Jonathan Frid as Barnabas, the creepy soap also starred Oscar-nominated Grayson Hall as Dr. Julia Hoffman. Hall was nominated in 1965 as Best Supporting Actress for "Night of the Iguana". Also starring was Joan Bennett, who had been a major Hollywood star in the 1930's and sister to fellow movie star, Contance Bennett. Other stars of the pre-Twilight vampire saga included Alexandra Isles, who later became the mistress to suspected wife-murderer, Klaus Von Bulow; Kate Jackson, who would later go on to t.v. stardom as a "Charlie's Angel"; and Mitch Ryan, who next found major t.v. success as Greg's father on "Dharma and Greg". Other notable cast members included John Karlen, who later played Harvey Lacey, the husband of Lacey of "Cagney and Lacey"; Louis Edmonds, who played Langley Wallingford for 16 years on "All My Children"; the very sexy David Selby, who played Richard Channing on "Falconcrest"; and on and on. You've probably figured out by now that the t.v. show was so popular that it successfully launched the careers of many young actors, many of whom are still working today.
(jonathan frid and grayson hall).
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(kate jackson)

One of the most interesting actors to appear on "Dark Shadows" was Dennis Patrick, who went on to fame as Vaughn Leland on "Dallas". In addition to starring in more than 1800 t.v. guest roles in his four decade career, coincidental to his role on "Dark Shadows", he actually played the very first t.v. vampire in a 1950 episode of "Stalag 13". In another strange twist of fate, Patrick died in a house fire, fire being the only thing beside a wooden stake which will kill a vampire.
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.But for the craziest trivia nuts out there, like us, here's the best one. Denise Nickerson was featured on "Dark Shadows" as Amy Jennings, from 1968-1970. Not sure who Nickerson is? Soon after her role on "Dark Shadows", Nickerson played the role of none other than Violet Beauregarde in the iconic 1971 movie, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".

(denise nickerson as "violet beauregarde")

Hollywood Watch, Part XV

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And speaking of Hollywood remakes, we've written a couple of times about the highly anticipated Coen Brothers remake of "True Grit", starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.
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(click on "Movies - 'True Grit'" in the Labels List)
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The movie is currently being shot in Granger, Texas, (the stand-in for Ft. Smith, Arkansas), and these photos from the set popped up on the internet yesterday.
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We're guessing the girl in the black dress is Hallie Steinfeld, who's playing Mattie Ross, and of course, in the next photo is Oscar winner, Jeff Bridges, who plays the iconic role of Rooster Cogburn, the role which won John Wayne his only Oscar.
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And in the final photo is what appears to be the set for what is supposed to be Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
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Every movie fan in the world is holding his/her breath, wondering if the much beloved, classic film will be tarnished by the making of a another poorly produced, typical Hollywood remake. But with the incredibly talented storytellers, the Coen Brothers, at the helm, almost everyone is hopeful, and even excited.

Hollywood Watch, Part XIV

Remember the 1985 horror-comedy movie, "Fright Night"? It was a scary, funny, tongue-in-cheek vampire movie which starred William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, Amanda Bearse and, in one of his best later career roles, Hollywood legend Roddie McDowall as the vampire hunter, Peter Vincent.
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(colin farrell)

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With the current craze over all things vampire, it should come as no surprise to hear that Hollywood is remaking the classic cult film, only this time, the cast is, surprisingly, A-List. Colin Farrell will take Chris Sarandon's role as the sexy bloodsucker next door, and Oscar nominated Toni Collette has been cast as Charley Brewster's mother, Judy.
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(left-toni collette;
right-anton yelchin)
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The starring role is Charley Brewster, the wide-eyed boy-next-door, (literally), who discovers that his new neighbor is a vampire. No one believes Charley, of course, so he turns to Peter Vincent, a B-television actor who hosts a horror anthology show, who then reluctantly joins Charley's quest to hunt the night stalker.
"Terminator Salvation"'s Anton Yelchin has won the role of Charley.
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(upper left-roddie mcdowell as peter vincent, upper right-"evil" ed, below-chris sarandon as jerry dandridge)
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Craig Gillespie, who produces and directs Collette's "United States of Tara" is directing, but no word yet on the pivotal roles of Peter Vincent, Amy or "Evil" Ed.
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The role of Peter Vincent, the Don Knotts-like, shaky-kneed vampire hunter is crucial. Vincent is the character upon which the story's entire plot turns, and the Roddie McDowell performance in the original film was supreme. The role has to go to an older character actor, one capable of animated excitement matched with steely determination. Maybe Dustin Hoffman? No, we've got it: Ricky Gervais. Yes.

Hollywood Watch

The comic book-inspired trend in movies continues with the upcoming Kenneth Branagh directed "Thor". Cast in the lead, opposite Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins, is a relative newcomer, Australian Chris Hemsworth. At right is the first still photograph released from the film. Really? is this the best they could come up with? And this one, really vague shot is supposed to whet our appetite for more? Oh well, bad P.R. work aside, hopefully we'll get more shots of Chris Hemsworth like the ones below from his previous role in an Aussie soap opera.
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Hollywood Watch - Part VII

The new movie, "The Backup Plan", is about to open, and so Jennifer Lopez and her big fat ass have been popping up on every talk show to promote the romantic comedy.
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But let's face it, we couldn't care less about the Lopez and her pointless attempts at comedy, this movie is all about her co-star, Aussie actor Alex O'Laughlin, and all the scenes with his shirt off. Trust us, that's all that matters.
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Next up for Alex is the t.v. remake of the old t.v. series, "Hawaii Five-O", in which he plays the Jack Lord role of Detective Steve McGarrett.
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