News

With a career that spanned six decades, actor Michael Parks proved time and time again that he could bring any type of character to life in believable ways. So it is with especially great sadness, that news has surfaced of Parks' passing at the age of 77.

THR shares the sad news of Parks' passing, which was confirmed to the outlet by the actor's agent, Jane Schulman. The cause of death has not been reported at this time.

Parks began a truly remarkable career in the early ’60s and never looked back, going on to appear in well over one hundred films and TV series.

A frequent collaborator of Quentin Tarantino, Parks played Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in 1996's From Dusk Till Dawn and reprised the role in Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2, Planet Terror, and Death Proof. He also appeared in Tarantino's Django Unchained.

In recent years, Parks dominated the screen...

Quentin Tarantino is reportedly moving onto pastures new with Hateful Eight, but there's still life in his back catalogue. Qt's frequent co-conspirator Robert Rodriguez has revisited the site of one of their early joint successes, and the result is the TV series expansion of From Dusk Til Dawn, shortly to make its debut on Rodriguez's El Rey cable network.Yup, that is Don Johnson as Sheriff Earl McGraw, the role previously inhabited by Michael Parks. Replacing Tarantino and George Clooney as the Gecko Brothers are Zane Holtz and D. J. Cotrona. Jesse Garcia plays a new role: that of Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez. Robert Patrick is in the Harvey Keitel role of preacher Jack Fuller, with Madison Davenport and Brandon Soo Hoo as his kids. And Eiza Gonzalez takes over from Salma Hayek (and Ara Celi) as the awe-inspiring Santanico Pandemonium.Straight to video sequel Texas Blood Money and prequel...

My number-one recommendation to anyone interested in screenwriting in Austin is to pay close attention to the Austin Film Festival (Aff) offerings. Not just the mentoring sessions and panels at the festival itself in October, but also throughout the year when Aff hosts "Conversations in Film" screenings and sessions. This series brings veterans of the television and film industry together with fans as well as emerging filmmakers and writers to discuss their works and the medium.

The most recent Conversations in Film session, on Sunday, March 25, at the Harry Ransom Center, featured Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ted Tally (White Palace, The Silence of the Lambs, All the Pretty Horses) and was moderated by Alvaro Rodriguez (From Dusk Til Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter, Machete) -- seen above. Tally has received acclaim for his adaptations of the works of bestselling authors including Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Harris, Rosellen Brown and George Dawes Green.

We already knew the Season Two premiere of "The Walking Dead" is kicking off AMC's 2011 Fearfest celebration, and we now have a few more details to share, including the fact that one of Dread Central's favorite directors, George A. Romero, is hosting the event!

From the Press Release:

AMC announces the launch of its annual AMC Fearfest, the most highly anticipated horror movie marathon of the Halloween season, on Sunday, October 16th. The 16-day virtual film festival, which kicks off with the 90-minute premiere of “The Walking Dead” Season Two at 9pm, celebrates the best in contemporary and classic horror genre films.

Hosted by “Master of Horror” George A. Romero, AMC Fearfest 2011 will introduce the AMC 14-part original mini-documentary series “American Haunters” and feature over 300 hours of Halloween-themed programming of more than 60 films, including the world television premiere of Romero’s own Survival of the Dead. In addition to the on-air festivities,...

One of the most frequent questions in panels at Austin film festivals I've attended is, "What is available here for writers?" My advice on where to find the best content at a local film festival is the Austin Film Festival (Aff). Durng the mentoring sessions, roundtables and panels, emerging writers and filmmakers interact with veterans of the television and film industry.

You don't have to wait until Aff in October to catch great writers and filmmakers talking about their craft. Aff hosts Conversations in Film throughout the year. Their most recent event, "Words That Go Bump in the Night: Writing Horror Films," brought together screenwriters Tom Holland (Fright Night, Cloak and Dagger) and Alvaro Rodriguez (From Dusk Til Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter, Machete) to talk about how they started in the film industry and the state of genre filmmaking. The conversation turned into more of an interview of Holland by Rodriguez,...

In the world of direct-to-dvd sequels that's shortly to bring us Lost Boys 3, all an enterprising studio needs is the rights to a good title and a director who's willing to work fast

Lost Boys 3, the second sequel to Kiefer Sutherland's 80s vampire hit, is coming out later this year. What? You missed Lost Boys 2? Don't worry, so did Kiefer (although it does feature his half-brother Angus). Lost Boys 2, which went straight to DVD in 2008, is a poor retread of the original, but recouped its $5m budget in less than a month, paving the way for a third film. Welcome to the world of DVD sequels, where profits are high, stakes are low, and quality lower.

Back in the 90s, the direct-to-video sequel industry mainly produced animated or family films, with Disney in particular happy to churn out weak sequels for everything from Bambi to Pocahontas. However, the decreasing...

After the Academy’s attempt at honoring genre during the live show, we saw a real tribute to horror by someone who is truly one of our own. Bob Murawski thanked Sam Raimi for giving him his “first cutting job” in Army of Darkness. His Best Editing award for Hurt Locker was shared by his partner Chris Innis, whom he met on the Raimi produced TV show “American Gothic.”

I gotta say, never since Peter Jackson’s (who was nominated this year for District 9) thank you to the crew of Meet the Feebles has there been such an excellent genre shout out.

On top of working with Raimi for over a decade, Murawski also runs Grindhouse Releasing, which distributes and restores cult and horror films with a focus on extreme Italian cinema. Pieces, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and I Drink Your Blood are just a few names you’ll find in Grindhouse Releasing's catalogue.

It’s that time of year again, kids. Dread Central’s 2010 Horror at the Oscars coverage. Horror was indeed present this year and in black-tie. While Roger Corman and Lauren Bacall were honored a few months back at the Governor’s Award Ceremony, it was an unexpected delight to see Corman, recipient of the lifetime achievement Oscar, enjoy a standing ovation on national television.

I was, however, very disappointed that neither of them were allowed to speak. Roger Corman’s contributions to modern cinema are too vast for him to just stand up and wave. James Cameron was one of many Corman acolytes present, and his nomination speaks to Corman’s tremendous legacy. On the Terminator DVD Cameron mentions, "I trained at the Roger Corman Film School.” Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola, among many others, were also former students.

The terror continued with a spoof of Paranormal Activity...

Smokin Aces 2 is a bad movie, folks. I don't know what else to say about it. It's a shitty, shitty film. It's irredeemably bad. It's boring. It's aimless. It's pointless. It's ineptly directed, barely written, and terribly acted. The effects are laughable, the pacing is irregular, and the plot is nonexistent. It shouldn't be watched. It doesn't deserve its title, it doesn't deserve Vinnie Jones, and it doesn't deserve your time.

Lookit: I dug the original Smokin' Aces. It was solid, tightly-paced, well-constructed escapist fare that breezed toward a killer Mexican stand-off. Granted, it was little more than a long, elaborate setup for a 20-minute shoot-out, but the setup was painless and the shoot-out was glorious. Also, the capping of Ben Affleck nearly atoned for a decade's worth of cinematic sins.

Smokin Aces 2: Assassins' Ball works from the same premise, but there's no energy and nothing to excite your...

Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball Quick Thoughts: I'm a fan of the original Smokin' Aces as a piece of escapist fun. It's also a film I would recommend fans of absurd black-comedy action features pick up and add to their collection. However, Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball (referred to as Smokin' Aces: Blowback in all of the special features) just isn't up to par, and for the most part it can't really help but look like the direct-to-dvd/Blu-ray film it is. Tons of obvious green screen work, second rate effects and an aging Tom Berenger as your biggest star doesn't exactly spell out top quality. Director P.J. Pesce was obviously working with a minimal budget and he did what he could with what he had, but a stand-out film experience this is not.

Luckily, Pesce is used to this sort of cheap follow-up fare having directed the...

Not long after the certifiably insane Smokin' Aces came and went and then sold a Lot of dvds, we started hearing all sorts of little stories about sequels, prequels, or any sort of follow-up. Clearly someone at Universal (besides Aces director/co-writer Joe Carnahan, I mean) saw the potential in keeping this franchise afloat, even if that meant remanding the subsequent sequels to the "lesser" direct-to-video market. And even those who adored Smokin' Aces would have to see the logic there: Pretty much all the characters from the first flick were dead, and even those who survived ... aren't exactly huge stars.

So off to the video shelves we go with Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball, and this time the directorial reins are in the hands of P.J. Pesce -- and if you're looking for a guy to bang out a direct-to-video sequel, Mr. Pesce is your man. His previous...

I still haven't seen Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces, but the high energy hitman flick it seems to have a fair amount of fans out there. (Personally I always thought it looked like a Guy Ritchie knockoff, but maybe I'm wrong on that.) At any rate, the film was apparently popular enough to warrant a direct-to-dvd sequel... er, I mean, prequel. Joe Carnahan obviously has better things to do with his time (like directing The A-Team, for example), but he is still credited as executive producer on Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball. The actual director of this flick, unfortunately, is P.J. Pesce -- the same man behind such memorable Dtv flicks as Lost Boys: The Tribe and From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. None of the big name original cast members are returning for this film, but Tommy Flanagan will reprise his role as Lazlo Soot, and...

Joe Carnahan has revealed on his official blog that he won’t be directing the upcoming direct-to-disc prequel to his action flick, Smokin’ Aces. Carnahan says directing duties will instead go to Pj Pesce. Pesce is no stranger to the direct-to-disc game. He’s helmed From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter, Sniper 3 and most recently Lost Boys: The Tribe. Little is known about the prequel, titled Smokin’ Aces: Blowback, but Carnahan has stated he wants it to revolve around the Tremor brothers. In the first flick the brothers were Neo-Nazi guns-for-hire. They were played by Chris Pine, Kevin Durand and Maury Sterling. The first movie was released in January 2007 and centered on Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch, Buddy Israel. He decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob. The mob puts a bounty on Israel’s head which opens the floodgates to a sleuth of assassins out to collect.