Diablo Cody Produces Breathers

Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament, the new novel by S.G. Browne, doesn’t even hit bookshelves until March 9th.  However, Fox Searchlight has already bought the movie rights to the book and has announced that Diablo Cody will be producing.  Cody has already written and produced the film Jennifer’s Body for Fox, which is currently in post-production and is slated for a September release date (starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried).  Of course she also wrote Juno for them, and its Oscar win pretty much sealed her in as a Fox favorite.

Breathers is a dark comedy about a support group of zombies, Undead Anonymous, trying to deal with the fact that they want to eat human flesh and therefore are no longer accepted in society.  Andy Warner is the main character, who “survived” a car crash only to find himself living as a zombie.  He’s depressed and living alone in his parents’ wine cellar until he finds friends and love among his fellow flesh-eaters as they come to terms with their new condition.

It sounds like it could be a funny book and movie, taking a chance on giving zombies some personality.  Diablo Cody is a perfect choice to help produce the film, as she is known for her love of both horror and comedy.  Geoff LaTulippe will be writing the screen adaptation of the book, and Mason Novick (who also worked on Jennifer’s Body and Juno) will be producing with Cody.

This Week’s CD Releases

Here are the big CDs releasing tomorrow, February 24th.  Click on the album title to buy any of the selections:

Chris Isaak, Mr. Lucky

Lamb of God, Wrath

Van Morrison, Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Oscar Highlights

This year’s Oscar ceremony was a mix of excellent and horrible.  In an attempt to draw in more viewers (as their ratings dropped heavily last year) they changed up a lot of the formulas for the show.  The first major obvious change was the host.  Usually they choose someone funny who makes a lot of jokes about the films and the celebrities in attendance.  This year Hugh Jackman stepped in as a singing/dancing/trying-to-be-funny-and-not-succeeding host.  He couldn’t deliver comedic lines at all and got a lot of courtesy laughs.  I guess that’s the bonus to performing in front of an audience of actors: they can all act like you’re a great host.
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S. Darko Update

The official S. Darko trailer has finally been released.  I posted about the film earlier here with the teaser trailer, but now they have a real one with clips of the actual film.  Watch this and there’s no question as to why it’s going straight to DVD.  It sounded bad, but now here’s some visual proof of how terrible it really will be.  I mean, they’re even bringing Frank the rabbit back, which makes no sense after the first film.  They just want to eat up every last bit of the Donnie Darko franchise.  Sad.

F*** My Life

Sometimes we all have a day that just makes us want to say “F*** my life!”  On fmylife.com you can vent anonymously about whatever terrible thing ruined your day.  You can also read the hilarious and embarrassing moments of everyone else and rate them as to if “I agree, your life is f***ed” or “You deserved that one.”  Here are few sample posts from the site:

Today, I realized that the beef jerky someone had left on the counter and that I’d been sneaking a few pieces of every morning had a cartoon dog holding two strips of beef jerky. I wondered why nobody else was eating it. It was beef jerky for dogs. FML

Today, I walked out of the bathroom when two guys were checking me out and said “nice tail” I smiled and strutted to my next class. When I was about to sit down in my desk, the girl behind me said “did you know you have toilet paper hanging out of your pants?” FML

Check out more FML moments by going to the site here: F*** My Life

Scream 4

Kevin Williamson has agreed to write another sequel in the Scream franchise.  Nine years after the last sequel was released, Dimension Films is trying to gather some of the old cast and crew for another go at the Scream goldmine.  Wes Craven, who directed all three previous films, is in negotiations to direct again, but he is being cautious, saying, “It would take it being really as good a script as the first one was, and the pay day reflects what I’ve done for that company…”

Offers have already gone out to David Arquette, Courteney Cox Arquette, and Neve Campbell for cameos in the film, although they are planning a “younger version” of the Scream story.

Personally I think this might be one of those instances where they need to kill off the sequel instead of the characters.

Buddhist Beer Temple

Beer is a beautiful thing.  First you drink and enjoy it, then you pray inside of the bottles.  Well, at least the monks of Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew in Thailand do.  They have constructed an entire complex of temples, stairs, bridges, mosaics, and even toilets out of empty beer bottles.  In a new method of recycling, locals drop off their empties at the complex, and the monks can then use them to construct more buildings on the property, which already consists of 20 structures.

The monks say that the over one million bottles used in the complex have been a perfect method for building as they are easy to clean and provide good lighting.  They use green Heineken bottles, brown Chang beer, various soft drinks, and Thai Red Bull bottles.  They also use the bottle caps to make their mosaics, not letting anything go to waste.

See more pictures of the structures by clicking Read More.
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The Visitor

In The Visitor, Professor Walter Vale has been living and teaching in Connecticut for months, and when he comes back to New York he finds a young couple living in his apartment.  At first he makes them leave, but then worries that they have nowhere to go and invites them to stay.  He finds out that the couple are illegal immigrants, and learns of their struggles and will to stay in America.  Through their spirit for life, and their acceptance of him, Walter begins to discover things that make him a happier person, and realizes that he hasn’t been truly living for a long time.

The Visitor was probably the most underrated film of the year.  It had a very limited theatrical release and was overlooked in the Oscar nominations, aside from the Best Actor nomination for Richard Jenkins, which was well deserved.  I’m glad that this nomination drew some attention to the film, because it merits some recognition.  I think it will be a film that will grow in popularity as more people are able to see it.
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Ali Spagnola’s Power Hour

For those of you who don’t know what “Power Hour” is, it’s a drinking game where you get together with a bunch of friends (or by yourself if you really have the urge) and take a shot of beer every minute for an hour.  It always sounds like a good idea until about 30-40 minutes or so in when the minutes start feeling more like seconds and you find yourself cheating with half shots or the line “oh yeah, I already took mine, you just didn’t see it.”

To assist you on your drinking venture, Ali Spagnola came up with the idea to make a Power Hour CD.  It has 60 tracks about drinking, and each one is a minute long.  She also has a DVD as a visual aid in case her smiling face might help you through your Power Hour pain.

You can buy the album through Amazon by clicking here: The Power Hour Album

And check out Ali’s art, music, and blog at her official site: Ali Spagnola

Click Read More to see the full track listings.
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MyHouse Hollywood

The newest hot spot in Hollywood opened recently.  It’s called MyHouse, and it’s a trendy bar set up exactly like a glamorous Hollywood home.  The designer, Dodd Mitchell, created the bar, and co-owner David Judaken said he wanted people to feel like they were at a house party every time they came into MyHouse.

Inside the bar, there are living rooms, an entryway that faces the staircase which leads up to the “bedroom,” and there is actually a regular kitchen, with an island set up in the middle to serve as a bar.

If you want to fully experience MyHouse, you will be paying $250-$1000 to reserve a “couch” or “bed” for your friends.  Us common folk will be more likely to be found mingling outside on the patio area or standing up between couches.

MyHouse is quickly becoming the new Hollywood hot spot.  Click here to check out more pictures of the bar: MyHouse