Film at Eleven

Caught in the Headlights, a new one-hour documentary from High Plains Films that examines the conflict between wildlife and automobile culture is now available for home video and educational purchase on DVD with public performance rights, exclusively from the High Plains Films web site.

In the United States where over four million miles of roads cross the landscape, an animal is killed on the road every 11.5 seconds - with one million vertebrate animals falling victim to automobile collisions annually.

Through the voices of six individuals who are intimately familiar with vehicle-wildlife conflicts, Caught in the Headlights is a quirky, informative exploration of automobile culture. Two Department of Transportation employees combine humor and sensitivity while taking the viewer on a tour along Montana’s state highways.

A wildlife rehabilitator since childhood turned raptor educator and artist, shares her work and perspective of the hardships that birds face in a world where car collisions are the leading cause of injury and death for raptors.

Raising a child as a single father may be hard; try combining that with an hour long commute to work through prime deer and elk habitat. One auto-body painter tells stories of close calls with wildlife on the road while warning of societal stubbornness.

A road ecologist from the Netherlands studies opportunities for creatures to cross roads safely while providing his own social commentary on the past, present and future of our transportation infrastructure.

Another man seeks apology and ceremony by turning road kill into bronze sculptures. His bold artwork challenges us to examine our dependency on the automobile through death preserved on the walls of a Seattle-area gallery.

The military coup in Thailand seems to have gone a lot less badly than it could have, but there has been one casualty. Filming on Time to Kill, the Bangkok Dangerous remake starring Nicolas Cage came to an abrupt halt when news of the revolt reached the set.

[W]hen news of the coup reached the set on Tuesday night, Cage was sent back to his hotel, and crew members remained on set to keep an eye on prop guns before Cage persuaded the producer to send everyone home. Cage also scrambled a private jet to leave the country at short notice.

Filming resumed on Wednesday - without Cage - and producers are adamant that the production will wrap in October.

Solace in Cinema is reporting that pre-production for Neil Marshall’s Doomsday is due to start next week, with production scheduled for February.

Described as a “futuristic action thriller with political overtones” and a touch of Mad Max, the film is set in the North of England and Scotland. All we know of the plot so far is that it involves a team of people working together to thwart a disaster that would lead to the destruction of mankind.

Twitch is reporting that Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman will be pressenting a modified version of his Make Your Own Damn Movie Master Class as part of the upcoming Toronto After Dark Film Festival.

Now, unfortunately, his zombie chicken musical Poultrygeist isn’t going to be through the editing process on time for it to screen as part of the festival - believe me, we tried - but we’re told this particular version of the masterclass is going to be structured entirely around Poultrygeist footage. Yes, there will be blood and guts. Yes, there will be zombie chickens. Yes, he’s bringing the musical numbers. And, yes, he will be bringing a good amount of behind the scenes footage to talk people through how exactly certain key scenes were pulled off.

If you’ve ever wanted to know how to do an in-toilet perspective on a budget practically nothing, now is your chance to find out from the man who knows.

Black Magic (via Twitch who have an interview with the director here) have posted a complete scene from Jonathan King’s horror/comedy, Black Sheep.

Click here and prepare for the woolly apocalypse.

To coincide with the UK release of Destricted - the most sexually explicit film ever passed by the BBFC for general cinemas - Shooting People have launched a short film competition for independent filmmakers interested in making similar explorations of the territory between porn and art.

The finalists will be screened at the Halloween Film Festival in January and will be considered for inclusion on the Destricted 2 DVD. The winner’s film will be sent to the BBFC for official 18 certification.

The competition is open to UK residents only.

After years of distribution woes, Alvin Ecarma’s stylish, violent and deliriously funny Lethal Force is One Step Closer to finally breaking free of obscurity’s shackles and seeing the light of day.

The DVD will be jam-packed with cast and crew commentary, “Behind The Scenes” featurette, Bloopers, Short films and an extensive still gallery. It will be totally airwolf.

Anthem Pictures have announced that the film will finally hit the streets on 14th November 2006. The film will be available for pre-order from 10th October.

Kevin VanHook’s Voodoo Moon promises viewers a horrifying journey into the netherworld of satanic rituals and voodoo rites and, from the clip I’ve just watched, looks like it could be a very striking film indeed.

Twenty years ago, a demonic massacre in a sleepy Southern town left two young siblings as the lone survivors. But for adult Cole (Eric Mabius) and his younger sister Heather (Charisma Carpenter), an obsession with their parents’ satanic slaughter has lasted a lifetime. Now through Cole’s psychic connection with a group that includes an outlaw biker (John Amos , “The West Wing”, Die Hard 2: Die Harder), a traumatized cop (Jeffrey Combs , Re-Animator) and a mysterious healer (Dee Wallace , Cujo and The Howling), vengeance is about to take a very unholy turn. Tonight they will all be brought together in a place where depraved secrets are exposed, legions of the damned are unleashed, and the final battle between Good and Evil will be fought beneath the Voodoo Moon…

This “new excursion into the beating heart of evil” is due to be released by Anchor Bay on October 3rd.

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I thought I’d heard a rumour about Luc Besson intending to retire from directing a while ago but I can’t find any reference to it now. Which is a shame because Yahoo News has just confirmed it.

Luc Besson, director of the “The Professional” and “The Fifth Element,” says his latest movie will be his last. The French filmmaker said Monday that he intended to devote himself instead to civic projects, including starting a foundation to help youths in France’s depressed inner cities.

Besson’s 10th and last movie, “Arthur et les Minimoys,” opens in France on Dec. 13.

I can’t say I’m entirely surprised at the news, but it is disappointing. Luc Besson is a good director and I will miss his output, regardless of how infrequent it’s been in the past.

(via Filmstalker)

Peter Jackson has bought the rights to Téméraire, a historical fantasy that sees squadrons of dragons fighting in the Napoleonic wars.

The plot centres on British naval captain Will Laurence, who seizes a French ship and discovers an unhatched dragon egg - a gift from the emperor of China to Napoleon. When the egg hatches, he is forced to become the dragon’s keeper. The monster is called Téméraire (meaning “Daring” in French).

“Téméraire is a terrific meld of two genres that I particularly love - fantasy and historical epic,” Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter. “I can’t wait to see Napoleonic battles fought with a squadron of dragons. That’s what I go to the movies for.”

It sounds fantastic, but we have a bit of a wait yet. Jackson is currently directing The Lovely Bones which, at his current rate, means that we can expect to see Téméraire sometime in 2009.