Above: You Don't Mess with the Zohan, The Happening, Sleeping Beauty

You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Adam Sandler wandering into topical territory, actually making sense, and stll making the funny? I was surprised too! Don't worry, he still packs in plenty of juvenile gags about the outlandish size of his package and drags in every ancient ethnic stereotype possible, but as an Israeli intelligence operative who wants to become a hairdresser, he pulls off the neat trick of creating a completely silly character in a wish-fulfillment scenario that, well, nearly everyone wants to see. Rent it. Available rated (theatrical cut) on a single-disc DVD and unrated in single-disc and double-disc DVD editions. The Blu-ray includes both the rated and unrated versions.

The Happening
Maybe the inclusion of "over 1 hour of intense bonus footage not shown in theaters!" -- extended versions of "Lion Attack" and Survivalist Porch" among them -- will convert me. Maybe I'll watch M. Night Shyamalan's first R-rated horror flick again some day to see if it still makes me roll my eyes and laugh out loud at scenes that were evidently intended to make me shiver in my seat. Maybe one day pigs will fly. Skip it. Available on DVD and Blu-ray with deleted scenes and "making of" features.

Sleeping Beauty
Scott Weinberg has already written about the awesomeness of the new edition of Disney's animated treasure on Blu-ray. This is a classic no-brainer, a movie that both young and old can dip back into time and again. Buy it. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

After the jump: Indies on DVD, Blu-ray, and Collector's Corner. Join us, won't you?

I'm starting to think I'm the only one out there who still follows the old maxim: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But, it's downright silly of me to think that a movie producer would ever miss the chance to earn a few bucks on a remake. Variety reports that Michael De Luca has partnered with Alison Rosenzweig and Michael Gaeta on a remake of Alan Parker's (Evita) 1987 horror-suspense flick, Angel Heart.

Angel Heart originally starred Mickey Rourke as a seedy private investigator hired to locate a nightclub singer who's gone on the run. Robert De Niro co-starred as Rourke's mysterious client, Louis Cyphre, along with Lisa Bonet as the daughter of a voodoo priest. The film had a little bit of everything: voodoo, hard-boiled detectives, the prince of darkness, and more plot twists than you can shake a stick at. Not to mention the film is probably best remembered for its controversial sex scenes starring a Cosby kid naked and rolling around in blood.

The film might not have been a huge hit upon release, but has gained cult status over the years, and according to Variety, De Luca "has long been a fan of the novel." The production is still in its early stages, and so far there are no names attached to the project. De Luca adds, "It's a great blend of genres with a great Faustian bargain, compelling, universal themes and a rare combination of literary and commercial appeal." One thing is for sure -- unless they have some changes planned for the update, I wouldn't exactly describe the story of Harry Angel as one with 'commercial appeal' ... would you?

For the first time in its four-year history, Austin's Fantastic Fest decided to premiere a handful of its titles on the internet, thereby giving the hardcore genre fans of the world a chance to sample what this festival is all about. One of those titles was South of Heaven, which I decided to watch online, so as to give myself the option of seeing something else once the festival began. Plus I figured, hey, if the movie's are already posted (albeit temporarily) on the net, then how "top-grade" could they be? Surely the FF crew would save the BEST stuff for the actual festival, right?

Wrong.

I finished the film at about 3:30am and I immediately dropped the following email to the Fantastic Fest programmers, and this is a censored-yet-direct quote from yours truly:

"Just finished watching South of Heaven, and I can't remember the last non-horror flick I was this jazzed about. It's the Coens meets Sam Fuller while watching Looney Tunes and making an '80s mix tape full of The Smiths and Depeche Mode. I (freak)ing loved it."

You might think Fantastic Fest announces their annual line-up in three big chunks so they can get a little extra press, right? (Hell, if that technique is good enough for Toronto, then it's good enough for Fantastic Fest!) That's a small part of it, but the main reason Tim League announces his slate in three big chunks -- is because he's busy trolling the planet up until the very last minute, looking for good movies. (In the past month he's been to Korea, Turkey, and PORTLAND!)

If you're looking for FF Batch One or Batch Two, you can find those here and here OR at the official FF website ... but if you want the final batch, well, you'll find that right here. As usual I'll include the full press release after the jump, but not before mentioning new Fanty* additions like Fanboys (my review here), JT Petty's The Burrowers, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (which is so good it's playing Telluride, Toronto AND Fantastic Fest), Alien Raiders (aka Supermarket), and the long-awaited Repo! A Genetic Opera from Saw-lord Darren Lynn Bousman.

Woohoo! Not one holocaust documentary or 165-minute French political drama at this festival, folks! And of course you should expect a few last-minute surprises. This is, after all, the festival that scored (way) early screenings of Apocalypto, Persepolis, Southland Tales, Pan's Labyrinth, There Will Be Blood, and ... um ... Postal. FF begins on September 18, and you know who'll be covering for us? The ultra-mega-stellar awesome team of Goss, Martin, Kernion & Weinberg. And we take our genre stuff very seriously.

*Yes, "Fanty." Let's hope it sticks.

I had a ball describing Fear(s) of the Dark to my fellow movie freaks. After really enjoying the film at last January's Sundance Film Festival (and calling Fantastic Fest Master Chief Tim League to give him the scoop), I made sure to come up with an apt description for the film. "Hmm, what's it about?" my fellow fest-goers would ask, to which I'd reply "Oh, it's your typical French animated ... horror ... anthology. In black & white." The next response was either "Oooh, cool," (my friends) or "Meh, not my speed." (total strangers).

Created by a collection of gifted graphic artists that includes names like Charles Burns, Romain Slocombe, and Marie Caillou, Fear(s) of the Dark is not exactly a Creepshow-style omnibus, but for genre fans who can appreciate a little culture now and again, I'd call it a very cool little treat. And if you're a big fan of graphic arts or the craft of animation, then I suspect you'll devour this French delicacy with a very large spoon. Plus, best of all, it's creepy!

Fear(s) of the Dark opens on in New York City (and On Demand! Like in your living room!) on October 24 before rolling into other towns -- and yep, it's also screening a few times at Austin's Fantastic Fest -- but we're very proud to bring you the first official poster for the film. Trust me when I say the poster fits the movie quite well. Click below for the noir-ness!

The Asian Film Festival of Dallas wrapped up last week with actor/action choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Versus) in attendance to screen his directing debut, Be a Man! Samurai School. Unfortunately, I missed that night, but two films that screened earlier in the fest stood out for their unique visions.

Indonesian movies are hard to come by in the US, so I confess my total ignorance about the country and its cinema. Is Kala (AKA Dead Time) representative in any way? I don't know, but I very much liked its mix of dramatic mystery and supernatural lore. Director Joko Anwar has a great eye for composition -- he's really good with looming shadows -- and harbors no fear of traveling down well-trodden paths before adding his own odd twists. The film doesn't completely hang together in the narrative sense, and the ending is probably too apocalyptic for its own good, but any movie that features a narcoleptic journalist, a world-weary cop, and a serial-killing spirit deserves attention.

When I describe Muay Thai Chaiya as "insane," it is with all due respect for a movie that begins as a straightforward tale of three ambitious boxing buddies before nearly drowning in soapy melodramatics. What rescues it from terminal dampness is writer / director Kongkiat Khomsiri's complete embrace of a go-for-broke, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink aesthetic that's reminiscent of trashily enjoyable, "C"-level, late 80s Hong Kong action pictures. Toss in sincere regret, romantic betrayal, and more self-sacrifice than you can shake a stick at, and Muay Thai Chaiya edges into "very watchable, never boring" territory.

Unfortunately, neither film is available right now on Region 1 DVD. Muay Thai Chaiya will be playing at Fantastic Fest next month. Both Kala and Muay Thai Chaiya also have official sites.

It's been a while since we heard anything about Johnny Depp's second foray into the world of comic book adaptation, otherwise known as Rex Mundi. Back in 2006, Depp purchased the rights to Arvid Nelson's Dark Horse series under his Infinitum Nihil banner, with the intention to star as Dr. Julien Sauniere.

To refresh your memory, Rex Mundi is set in an alternate history where Martin Luther was assassinated, the Reformation never took place, and the Catholic Church still reigns supreme. The comics take place in the 1930's, in a world where the Inquisition still runs rampant, Europe is ruled by monarchs, but magic manages to exist. Into this walks Dr. Sauniere, who finds himself investigating the disappearance of a medieval scroll, and a trail of horrific ritual murders. You can find out more on its official site, if you're interested. Depp was drawn to the project not because he's a comic reader, but because he's keenly interested in the Templar Knights, and "loves that kind of research" according to Barry Levine, who's co-producing.

According to MTV, Rex now has a script, penned by Jim Uhls, and is looking for a director. Depp has been right in the thick of all the decision making, says his co-producer Barry Levine. "The second draft is now coming in from Jim, and Warner Bros. is pretty excited about it. They came up with a couple of names for directors, so now we just need Johnny to look at the list. It all begins and ends with Johnny. He's got to be happy with the script, and he gave his notes, so we'll see what happens next."

When he's not covering film for us, Christopher Campbell is out living a bold double life, instead covering film for Spout Blog, and by way of his derring-do, he's come across a relatively watchable bootleg of some of the ill-received Comic-Con footage from The Spirit, and to borrow his incredibly apt reaction: "The scene you heard about is actually worse than you imagined."

Their Kevin Kelly tried to warn us, as did our own Elisabeth Rappe, and the latest trailer brought forth its own wave of doubt, but witnessing it for myself is something else. I can't speak for Will Eisner's original comic-book creation, though a couple of my pals have assured me that Frank Miller's take on the material is pretty far from it, and while I'm down for a Sin City 2, I'd really rather it be a more intentional affair than this likely farce.

Are any of you fans still willing to give this project the benefit of the doubt, or are toilet-smashing gags the new par for the course?

Holy crap! Holy crap. I don't get too many occasions to truly geek out -- go all giddy with excitement, rationality be damned -- but this is one of them. I may have previously mentioned my abiding love for Rian Johnson's Brick: my favorite film of 2005 and one of my favorites of the decade. I was already beyond psyched for The Brothers Bloom, Johnson's 2008 con man follow-up; pre-release buzz has been solid to great. I'm itching to declare the talented writer-director the Next Big Thing: someone with the cleverness of Tarantino and the chops of Fincher, but more heart. It's a little premature right now, but I'll get back to you after I watch Bloom.

Anyway, if I love something more than Brick, it's intelligent science-fiction. And lo: IGN reports that Rian Johnson's next project will be a film called Looper, a dark, violent, time travel-themed sci-fi story in the vein of Philip K. Dick. Johnson compares it to the first Terminator: relatively small-scale, character-driven sci-fi with time travel used as a plot device. That's all the details he gave on the plot, but I'm not sure how a project could be more tailored to my current obsessions and sensibilities.

The Brothers Bloom is supposed to come out on October 24th; I'm holding out hope that it will also make an appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. You can see the trailer here.

If there's one movie descriptive that can actually get my jaded heart racing, it's "in the style of L.A. Confidential." Sure, it's glib, and probably sells the potential film and its source material short, but I can't help it, it's a magical phrase. And The Hollywood Reporter (by way of Lakeshore Entertainment) used it to describe Barry Levinson's latest movie.

Levinson is set to direct an adaptation of Peter Dexter's novel Train, a story set in 1950's Southern California. It centers around Miller Packard, a white sergeant in the San Diego Police Department, who has little time for the hypocrisy and racism of his age. An avid golfer, he befriends a troubled young African-American caddy named Lionel "Train" Walk, who harbors knowledge of an unreported murder that haunts his past. The city politics and racism of the 50's surround the murder investigation, and threaten their friendship.

Dexter's books have been popular in Hollywood recently -- he was the pen behind Mulholland Falls and The Paperboy is currently in production with Paul Verhoven and Jan de Bont. Unlike with Falls, he won't be penning the script this time around. That job falls to Allison Burnett, who's a pretty popular writer at Lakeshore, adapting Fame and penning Untraceable for them.

Hopefully, a Cinematical reader or two can chime in on the book. From its reviews, the source material sounds pretty enticing. Here's hoping this can not only be a comeback for Levinson, but a noir rival for L.A. Confidential.