Seasons Greetings!

Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year from the Staff at GoreMaster.com!

15 Films Among Oscar Visual Effects Contenders

The Academy has released its list of 15 hopefuls for the Visual Effects Oscar:

“Angels & Demons”

 “Avatar”

 “Coraline”

 “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”

 “District 9”;

“G-Force”

 “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”

 “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”

 “Sherlock Holmes”

 “Star Trek”

 “Terminator Salvation”

 “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

 “2012”

 “Watchmen”

 “Where the Wild Things Are”

‘Samson & Delilah’ Wins Big at Australian Film Awards

By Steve Pond

“Samson & Delilah,” Australia’s entry in the Oscar foreign-language film race, was the big winner at the Australian Film Institute Awards Saturday night in Melbourne. The film took home awards for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay, along with a shared Best Young Actor award for its two stars, Marissa Gibson and Rowan McNamara.  

At the AFI Industry Awards, which took place on Friday, the film won in the Best Cinematography and Best Sound categories, as well as picking up the AFI Members’ Choice Award.  

Director/writer Warwick Thornton’s drama, which deals with two teenagers who are ostracized from their remote, indigeneous community in central Australia, was also nominated for its musical score and supporting actress, and for the News Limited Readers’ Choice Award.   

“Balibo,” the story of killings during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor in 1975, won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Lead Actor (Anthony LaPaglia) and Best Supporting Actor (Oscar Isaac).  In the actress categories, Frances O’Connor won the Best Lead Actress award for “Blessed,” while Rachel Griffiths took Best Supporting Actress honors for “Beautiful Kate.”

10 Live Action Shorts Still Alive For Oscar

By Nikki Finke – Deadline Hollywood

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards®. Seventy-one pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

“The Door,” Juanita Wilson, director, and James Flynn, producer (Octagon Films Ltd.)

“The Ground Beneath,” Rene Hernandez, director, and Kristina Ceyton, producer (Passion Pictures)

“Hotel,” Tim Conrad, director-producer (Oyster Films)

“Instead of Abracadabra,” Patrik Eklund, director, and Mathias Fjellstrom, producer (Direktorn & Fabrikorn)

“Kavi,” Gregg Helvey, director-producer (Gregg Helvey)

“Miracle Fish,” Luke Doolan, director, and Drew Bailey, producer (Druid Films)

“The New Tenants,” Joachim Back, director, and Tivi Magnusson, producer (Park Pictures)

“The Response,” Adam Rodgers, director, and Sig Libowitz, producer (Look at the Moon Productions)

“Short Term 12,” Destin Daniel Cretton, director-producer, and Michelle Steffes, producer (Destin Cretton)

“Sidney Turtlebaum,” Tristram Shapeero, director, and Daniel Jewel, producer (Third Man Films Limited)

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2010.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre

Amazon Specials!

Martin Scorsese to receive DeMille award

Martin Scorsese

By Gregg Kilday – HollywoodReporter.com

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. will bestow its highest honor, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, on Martin Scorsese at the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 17.

The award recognizes “outstanding contribution to the entertainment field”; the most recent recipients have been Steven Spielberg, Warren Beatty, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Williams and Michael Douglas.

Scorsese presented the award to Spielberg at the Golden Globes broadcast in January.

An Oscar winner for directing “The Departed,” Scorsese also has picked up two Golden Globes — for directing “Departed” and “Gangs of New York” — and has five additional Globe noms.

His next film, “Shutter Island,” will be released Feb. 19 by Paramount.

NBC will be broadcast the Globes from the Beverly Hilton; Ricky Gervais is the host.

Nominations will be announced Dec. 15.

Amazon Specials!

‘Abertoir’ horror festival opens

from BBC

A festival featuring gore, blood and fear is getting under way in Aberystwyth to celebrate horror films.

Abertoir, which calls itself the national horror festival of Wales, opens later at the town’s arts centre.

Scheduled highlights include a master class with film director Herschell Gordon Lewis and an appearance by Doug Bradley, from the Hellraiser films.

Hundreds of fans are expected at the five-day festival, which is now in its fourth year.

It features UK film premieres, cult screenings and master classes.

Gareth Bailey, who organising the festival, said: “Being a big horror buff and living and working in Aberystwyth, I found I was travelling long distances to horror festivals,” he said.

“I’m the cinema manager here and choose what films get shown.

“Anyway, I decided on Halloween four years ago I would show The Wicker Man. And then I decided to show another and another and it kind of turned into a festival.

“So the next year I decided to do it again but this time put it on a few days after Halloween and it has been really really successful.

“We are attracting people from all over the country,” he said.

This year’s event will see the cult 1980s film The Keep, which was shot in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llanberis, open the festival.

Sir Ian McKellen starred in the film, which was directed by Michael Mann before he gained success with the likes Manhunter, Heat and Miami Vice.

Splatter movie

Herschell Gordon Lewis, nicknamed “The Godfather of Gore”, will share his experience in a master class on the ins and outs of low-budget film making.

He is credited with inventing the “splatter movie” with his 1963 film Blood Feast.

For fans of more contemporary horror, Doug Bradley, who played the character Pinhead in the Hellraiser movies, is expected at the festival to discuss horror effects.

The event is supported by the Film Agency for Wales, and attendance figures for the festival have nearly tripled since it began in 2006, although Mr Bailey describes it as being an “intimate event”.

The festival, which is run and operated by Aberystwyth arts centre, runs from Wednesday to Sunday.

Other events include a screening of An American Werewolf in Paris and An Evening at the Grand Guignol, a recreation of three classic plays from the “Theatre of Horror” in early 20th Century France.

Amazon Specials!

Got a Few Million Bucks? Buy the Terminator Rights!

Russ Fischer – SlashFilm.com

Little over a month ago we told you that rights for the Terminator franchise were probably going to hit the auction block to pay off debts for the Halcyon Holding Group, which bought the rights in 2007 for $25m. Now that has come to pass. Rights to the series are for sale, and the list of interested bidders is long and, for the most part, not at all surprising.

Nikki Finke reports that every big Hollywood studio is interested in the purchase, as are Summit and Media Rights Capital. Sony has the greatest interest, she says, as the auction is prepped for later this month. The package to be sold is fairly complete, as it includes the rights to “new Terminator films, TV program and other spin-offs.” (Video games? One would assume so, and perhaps this sale will lead to the eventual release of a decent licensed Terminator game.)

Can’t wait to see what someone pays for this. Again, Halcyon picked up the rights for $25m two years ago, and Terminator: Salvation has done $380m worldwide. Not the smash that was expected, and quite obviously not the one that was needed, given that Halcyon immediately went into Chapter 11 once the film was done. What’s the series worth, then? Halcyon’s Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek have claimed the package is worth up to $60m now, but that seems exorbitant.

Amazon Specials!

EloProgo Art House

by Mark Gorelord

My firend from Indonesia, Yasmi Setiawati told about EloProgo Art House and here is the description:

EloProgo Art House is a space for an artists and everyone who wants to enjoy the art and nature at the same time. Surrounded by a beautiful views.. the rivers Elo and progo too tempting to be forgotten, stream from the Merbabu and Sumbing mountains and meet in the backyard of Eloprogo Art House. It is also close to the three amazing temples, Mendut, Pawon, and Borobudur. Here, nature offers beautiful scenery, while we offer a space for everyone..

Our missions are,
-to give a space for the art workers and lovers to express and create the ideas from within -to use art as an approach to the society and invite them to gather in the joy of art

Eloprogo provides :
-Four open stages
-‘kedai apresiasi’ as café -‘small wall’ for small exhibition
-Two guest house
-Dormitory for artists in residence
-One permanent gallery of sony santosa’s paintings
-A heavenly park ‘batu dua’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT ; Maya Abdi Manuputty – 081391785656 Putri Fitria – 085747052226 Ervin Ruhlelana – 085860421234

WHAT DID WE DO?
– our annual event, art camp I, II , and III, have been running since 2007. this event are held every May, to appreciate Waisak celebration. And another annual events are poetry camp, ‘laluna a la Eloprogo’ (fullmoon celebration), ‘kuda lumping kontemporer’ festival, and Movie camp.
– we held art exhibition for almost every kind of art – paintings, installations, photographs, sculptures, etc.
– We held ‘pesta melukis’ (painting’s party), a painting course by an artist from Eloprogo, and some fun games. All for the kids, especially for them who live near eloprogo art house.

WHAT DO WE DO?
-actualize art and culture workshop
-reach the social dedication
-environmental research and development
-publishing an art and culture magazine (in process)

ELOPROGO ARTISTS :

Amazon Specials!

-Andrie Topo (Magelang, Art Performer)
-Aning Purwaranti (Semarang, Art Performer)
-Budi Suro (Sidoarjo, Poet)
-Dhani (Magelang, actor and director performance)
-Din Kandhihawa (Tegal, Art Performer)
-Ervin Ruhlelana (Indonesia, Writer)
-Ida (Muntilan, Musician)
-Mario Rouv (Muntilan, Art Designer)
-Miko Bima (Kotagede, Poet)
-Nundang Rundagi (Indonesia, Poet)
-Putri Fitria (Medan, Photographer)
-Sony Santosa (Indonesia, Painter)
-Tito Yoyo (Indonesia, Painter)
-Yasmi Setiawati (Surabaya, Videographer)
-Yayan Rozaq Triyansah (Semarang, Poet)

Da Vinci’s top work artfully brought to life

by Kylie Northover– TheAge.com.au

For a man who died almost five centuries ago, Leonardo Da Vinci is certainly hot right now – in North Melbourne, Peter Greenaway’s installation based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper is bringing in the crowds and at Southbank the world premiere of Anatomy to Robots has opened in a purpose-built pavilion.

More than three years in the making, Italian exhibition Anatomy to Robots features a collection of life-sized, three-dimensional models, interactive robotics and machines inspired by anatomy.

Da Vinci’s visions have been meticulously brought to life by model artist Danilo Carignola and his team from CreaFX, an Italian company who specialise in make-up and special effects for films – mostly horror films – and theatre.

Carignola and his team spent more than three years on the exhibition, working from Da Vinci’s original texts and drawings.

”We work with facial make-up effects and we are used to making things from prosthetics and masks with silicon and resin, but this was a difficult and challenging task,” the Florence-based artist told Melbourne Life.

”To create the models, we had to study anatomy so we could accurately show every muscle, bone and organ inside a body. This was hard for us as, having studied fine art, we didn’t know about human anatomy.”

After creating frighteningly life-like models of the heart and vascular system, the brain, the skeleton and many other body parts, Carignola and his team’s next horror film assignment should be a cinch.

The exhibition at Queensbridge Square, which runs until January 2010, also features machines and panels inspired by nature, optics, theatre and art, as well as artworks and frescoes.

Amazon Specials!

World’s First 5D Haunted Attraction Opens In Branson

From Vocus/PRWEB

Just in time for Halloween, Castle of Chaos in Branson, MO Merges State-of-the-Art 3D with Heart-Pounding Motion, Special Effects, Animatronics, and Gaming for the First Ever 5D Interactive Haunted Experience in the World.

Haunted house aficionados, video game buffs, and Branson tourists who are ready for a thrill will find a whole new kind of entertainment beginning this Halloween season. Castle of Chaos, a fright ride and battle game, is the newest attraction in Branson, MO and marks the world premiere of the 5D experience, it was announced by owner Kuvera Attractions.    

Castle of Chaos merges state-of-the-art 3D with heart-pounding motion, special effects, animatronics and gaming for the first-ever 5D interactive haunted experience in the world. Visitors enter an enormous castle to discover the fate of 1920s horror film star Carli Winepeg and her crew, who mysteriously disappeared while shooting the planned epic film Castle of Chaos. Once securely buckled into armchairs with 3D glasses on and pistols ready at their sides, guests are spun into Carli’s tortured world and forced to protect themselves from its terrifying inhabitants.

“Castle of Chaos is such an engrossing experience because it is the first ride in the world to incorporate so many multi-media and interactive technologies in one attraction,” says Tej Sundher, Kuvera Attractions Partner whose family also founded the world-famous Hollywood Wax Museum.

This 21st century haunted house combines the latest in 3D projection with surround sound, special effects, motion-based seats, and a shooting system that scores each member of the audience. The 24 seats are affixed to a five-ton rotating platform that has ten engines and achieves a top speed of 15 rpm. There are sequences that include total darkness, wind, water, smoke, and foul scents, among other effects. Each player racks up points, and the top five scorers are shown on the screen at the end of the ride.

Initial surveys have shown that guests absolutely love Castle of Chaos. “My favorite part was the bats flying out of the screen and over our heads,” wrote 46-year-old rider Don from Florence, KS. “Oh my gosh! The anticipation made me want to bite my nails, but I couldn’t because I was so busy shooting at everything,” said Lizette, age 17, of Waukesha, WI.

“Nearly 50 percent of riders get right back in line to try again,” says Sundher. “The competitive element appeals to all ages and is especially compelling to video game players who always want to improve their scores.”

Players can earn thousands of points shooting at targets including candles, cameras, bats, bugs, rats, and zombies. Items that are more difficult to hit are worth more points, and certain objects react when struck. For example, candles flare when they are hit, one bat flies out upon contact, and a jar releases a ghost when shot.   

Get info on-line at www.castleofchaosbranson.com.

Amazon Specials!