Race really matters… SMH. Via The New York Times : …an exhibition match between one of Italy’s leading soccer teams and a lower division club was abandoned on Thursday after a black player responded to racist chanting from fans by kicking a ball into the stands and walking off the field in Busto Arsizio, outside Milan. Video of the incident, which took place in the small stadium of Pro Patria, a club in one of Italy’s lower leagues, showed Kevin-Prince Boateng, a Ghanaian-German midfielder for the visitors, A.C. Milan, stopping play and launching the ball in the direction of fans of the home team who were chanting like monkeys. He then pulled off his shirt and walked to the locker room, followed by his teammates. Fans in the same part of the stadium had directed monkey chants at another Ghanaian player, Sulley Muntari, just minutes earlier, another YouTube clip showed. The Pro Patria players said later that they had tried and failed to convince about a dozen fans to stop the racist abuse, The Associated Press reported. “When we tried to reason with them and went under the stands, they didn’t even consider it,” Devis Nossa, a Pro Patria defender said. “They certainly weren’t our usual fans.” On Twitter, Mr. Boateng promoted the hashtag #StopRacismforever and posted supportive comments from fans and fellow players, including Patrick Viera, a former star of the French national team, the Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin and Marco Materazzi, an Italian defender who helped his country win the 2006 World Cup. A statement on the incident on the Pro Patria Web site headlined, “Tolleranza Zero,” began: Today was supposed to be the festival of sport. The crowd for the friendly match Pro Patria vs. AC Milan was composed of women, children, families, young athletes and real fans. This festival was ruined by a small number of uncivilized people who have nothing to do with football and with the values of sport, especially fair play, which are part of the DNA of the club Aurora Pro Patria 1919. A.C. Milan’s manager, Massimiliano Allegri, said later that he supported the decision by his players, and hoped that the match would eventually be replayed: These racist episodes have to end. Walking off was the correct decision to make after the racist chants. We are sorry these events have happened, more so for the other supporters — the families and children who had come here to spend a pleasant afternoon. We have promised Pro Patria that we will come back for these people. Despite globalization and European integration, which has led to increasingly multicultural professional and national teams, racist abuse, particularly directed at black players, remains a problem across the continent. Three months ago, a black player representing England in a youth tournament heard loud monkey chants at a match in Serbia. Although the Serbian Football Association accused the player of lying when he said that the chants started every time he touched the ball, very loud monkey chants could be heard on video shot from the stands at the end of the match. We’re just glad homeboy’s team backed him up…and that he had the sense to walk of the damn field in the first place! Images via youtube/twitter
Remember, earlier this year “Lil Jojo” was killed in Chicago supposedly by “Lil Reese & Chief Keef’s Crew.” Well, things are still hot in the Chi…obviously by the death of one of Jojo’s friends, JayLoud, being killed for representing him. DNA Info Reports : A teen who was friends with slain Englewood rapper Joseph “Lil JoJo” Coleman was shot dead on Christmas Day while wearing a hooded sweatshirt honoring the deceased emcee, his family said Wednesday. Joshua Davis, 18, of the 7200 block of South Bell Avenue, was shot several times after getting into a fight with a group of men in West Englewood, said Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman. No one was in custody as of Wednesday morning in the shooting, which occurred shortly after 11:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of West 69th Street, police said. Neighbor Sam Agnew, 83, said he was in bed when he heard four or five shots. He looked out his front door, saw a man lying in the street directly in front of his house and called police, Agnew said. According to a law enforcement source, Davis had argued with the men on a bus. After he got off, they chased after him and one of the men unleashed several shots. “He was killed because he was wearing a hoodie and getting off the bus,” said the victim’s sister Selina Davis, 24. “He was a great boy. He was only a baby.” Police said it was not clear what article of clothing Davis was wearing at the time of the shooting or what the argument with the men on the bus was about. Selina Davis said her brother, whose rap name was JayLoud, was wearing a “JoJo” hoodie to honor his best friend, who was killed in September. Coleman, also 18, reportedly was feuding with rapper Chief Keef before his death, but it was not clear if Davis’ death was related. Joshua Davis was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition and died there early Wednesday morning, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Johnathan Moody, a cousin of the victim, said he and other friends had warned Davis about wearing the “JoJo” sweatshirt around the neighborhood. “We would tell him, ‘That ain’t good to wear that hoodie.’ But that was his best friend,” Moody said. Moody and other family members said they heard about their loved one’s death from friends and Facebook posts. “I guess the guys he got into it with, they were with another clique,” said Moody, 18. “It’s dumb. To kill someone over a hoodie?” Moody said. “It’s pointless, man. All this murder is pointless.” On a JayLoud video posted on YouTube, the victim raps in one song that “We know them and they know us, let’s get it. Smoke ‘em like some dope when we roll up.” On Dec. 17, a tweet from Davis’ Twitter handle @JayLoud93 stated “I wear my #JOJOWORLD hoodie everywhere f— ah opp.” “Opp” is slang for opponents, rival gangs. On his Twitter account, @JayLoud93 also includes hashtag notations #069 and #BrickSquad, which police say are references to the Brick Squad faction of Gangster Disciples. Police said Coleman was affiliated with the Brick Squad faction, but it was not clear if Davis was connected to the gang. Where are all the black activist at? Why are people not angry at another black kid being killed, daily, but we will act a fool if a half hispanic man kills a black kid out of the blue? This black on black crime is not out of the blue, it’s common! What are we gonna do about it? Go Here For More Of The Story On Hip Hop Wired! youtube
Sorry but we don’t believe you. You need way more people. Rumors are rapidly spreading that Nas isn’t the father of Kelis’ son, Knight. This morning we spotted a blind item on Rhymes with Snitch that read remarkably similarly to a tip we received last week and quickly dismissed. Here’s the RWS item: Once upon a time there was a young dragon slayer who hailed from Queens Bridge. This fabled dragon slayer slayed dragons twice his size with ease, though he never quite reached the heights of the dragons he has slain. But that’s not what this tale is about… There are whispers in the Kingdom that Young Slayer might not be the true sire of his dear beloved progeny. Scandalmongers have been sharing tales about a certain husky lover taken by Young Slayer’s former fair maiden who may indeed be the actual seed spiller. Fair maiden’s husky lover has now, by the way, moved on to a child of destiny. And here is the info we were sent: Kelis is keeping a secret. The father of her son is former football player Wale Ogunleye not Nasir Jones. After adult freaky tape allegations leaked featuring Kelis and a man other than her husband she decided to become pregnant to save her failing marriage. She though it would take a few months for her to conceive but she was pregnant within a month. She and Ogunleye were having an affair and things happened so quick she was uncertain of the child’s paternity. That’s why she refused to allow Nas into the delivery room and refuses to allow him to visit her son without her or the nanny. Her son has striking features he inherited from his biological father who is of Nigerian decent. She just recently purchased a foreclosure in Glendale California, and is desperately seeking a sponsor. She fears losing another property she has had two foreclosures and two evictions since her divorce. Ogunleye has since upgraded and is now dating Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child. Here’s a photo of Ogunleye who did date Kelis back in 2010 . Sorry but we’re calling bullisht on this one right out the gate. There is NO WAY in hell after all the legal hoops these two have jumped through that Nas didn’t have that baby DNA tested. Whoever is spreading these rumors needs to get a life.
With this season’s Les Misérables mania in swing, many a moviegoer has been obsessing over those familiar songs and weepy French revolutionary dramatics in anticipation of the Christmas Oscar pic. I’ve been thinking a lot about the classic Les Mis tune “On My Own,” about one girl’s unrequited love for a boy who loves another — but not as sung by Eponine about Marius and his beloved little songbird Cosette. I’m talking Joey Potter’s Miss Windjammer rendition from season one of Dawson’s Creek . If you were a teenage girl growing up in the late ’90s, chances are you watched the seminal WB series. And if you had any sense at all, you identified not with wannabe Spielberg Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), adorably feckless Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson), or the hot-but-troubled new girl in town Jen Lindley ( Michelle Williams ), but with the tomboyish girl-next-door, Joey Potter ( Katie Holmes ). So when Joey reluctantly entered the local Miss Windjammer beauty contest (for college tuition money!) and warbled the Les Miserables ballad “On My Own” — prompting stupid Dawson to see past Jen and notice Joey for the first time ever — you LOVED EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF IT. Joey was the Eponine of Capeside, Massachusetts, and Dawson was her Marius, and this Eponine was finally getting her man. I’ll admit with no small shred of embarrassment: I’ve probably seen Joey sing “On My Own” dozens of times in my life. As soon the Internet invented YouTube, I found it and watched it again. (There was that one lost evening when I fell down a k-hole of Joey-Pacey YouTube videos, but that’s another story.) I’d never seen Les Miserables onstage, so Dawson’s Creek marked my introduction to the soulful, wistful “On My Own” — and in the hazy euphoria of nostalgia, despite Dawson’s terrible ’90s mane and Joey’s reedy baby voice, I still think back on it fondly. Clearly Holmes doesn’t hold a candle to a performer like Samantha Barks, the professional West End veteran who plays Eponine and absolutely slays “On My Own” in Tom Hooper’s film adaptation. But the reason why both versions work — Barks as Eponine in the familiar Les Mis tradition, and Holmes as Joey singing to Capeside’s finest — is that they both hit that Some Kind of Wonderful sweet spot. Les Mis the musical was written over a decade before Dawson’s Creek and the John Hughes gem, and Victor Hugo’s novel 130 years before, but they share the same essential DNA: The overlooked girl-next-door pining for the boy who’s too blind to see, who loves him so much she’ll help him woo the girl of his dreams — even if it kills her. This is, incidentally, why Some Kind Of Wonderful is so great; Watts gets her happy ending . And a pair of diamond earrings. Read more on Les Misérables , in theaters December 25 : Early Reaction: Oscar Race Heats Up As NYC Screening Of ‘Les Miserables’ Prompts Cheers & Tears Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Austin Reed Sigg , who was arrested this week for the kidnapping and murder of 10-year old Jessica Ridgeway, reportedly confessed to the heinous crime, prosecutors said today. During a court hearing this morning, authorities said Sigg – a student at Arapahoe Community College – admitted to taking Ridgeway’s life and also to attacking a jogger in the area. They also told a judge that “overwhelming” DNA evidence exists that links Sigg to the crime. Sigg, 17, will be formally charged on October 30 and is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, felony murder and kidnapping in relation to Ridgeway, who vanished on October 5 and whose body was discovered on October 18. Police in the Denver suburb of Westminster said they took Sigg into custody on Tuesday night after receiving a call from his mother. Mindy Sigg, meanwhile, told The Associated Press that her son turned himself in. “I made the phone call, and he turned himself in. That’s all I have to say,” said Mindy.
David Correy has been named an X Factor finalist . But that isn’t the best news the aspiring singer received this week. David Correy Audition Sources confirm to TMZ that Correy, a 26-year old who told viewers on his opening episode that he was given up for adoption when he was a newborn in Brazil, has tracked down his birth mother ! Her name is Luciene Lima and she recognized the baby photos shown in Correy’s segment after he was introduced on The X Factor a couple weeks ago. Lima reportedly contacted local media in Brazil, which got the ball rollong (contacting Correy, matching up birth certificates and timelines) and so far – with DNA results not yet in – all signs point to a valid connection. “David is so happy,” a friend says. “He can’t wait to meet her for the first time.”
David Correy has been named an X Factor finalist . But that isn’t the best news the aspiring singer received this week. David Correy Audition Sources confirm to TMZ that Correy, a 26-year old who told viewers on his opening episode that he was given up for adoption when he was a newborn in Brazil, has tracked down his birth mother ! Her name is Luciene Lima and she recognized the baby photos shown in Correy’s segment after he was introduced on The X Factor a couple weeks ago. Lima reportedly contacted local media in Brazil, which got the ball rollong (contacting Correy, matching up birth certificates and timelines) and so far – with DNA results not yet in – all signs point to a valid connection. “David is so happy,” a friend says. “He can’t wait to meet her for the first time.”
Jason Blum had produced a dozen projects before he hit upon 2007’s sleeper phenomenon Paranormal Activity , a micro-indie horror pic with no stars that in turn became the model for Blumhouse Productions, his own genre-leaning multimedia label. Fast forward just five years and Paranormal Activity 4 is set to continue the series’ low-budget thrills (with webcam technology!) next week, while the Blum-produced Sinister , about a writer (Ethan Hawke) contending with a house haunted by insidious forces, opens today. (For a third new venture, The Blumhouse of Horrors, Blum & Co. take over a historic theater in downtown Los Angeles. More info here .) Movieline caught up with the man behind many of the most profitable — and cost-effective — horror hits in recent memory for a peek behind the curtain: What’s the Blum secret to success? What was it that first interested you in Sinister , these filmmakers, and this story – and given your past horror projects, how do you think it fits into your portfolio? I’m super happy with the movie. I think it works because very simply [writer C. Robert] Cargill and [director Scott Derrickson] did a terrific job on it. They first pitched it to me a year and a half ago and the movie they first described to me in my office and the movie you’ll see are very close, they’re virtually the same thing. All I did was give these guys the creative freedom to make what they wanted to make. Your name has been so closely associated with the Paranormal Activity franchise and its success – how do you feel about being known for these particular films? I love genre movies. I’ve made a handful of other ones in addition to the Paranormal movies, and my favorite thing about what Paranormal allowed our company to do is that the company is based on this idea of betting on yourself. That’s what Oren Peli did on Paranormal Activity , that’s what James Wan did on Insidious , and that’s what Scott and Cargill did on Sinister . It’s given birth to all these movies and I’m really pleased that our company is associated with them. I’m really interested in genre, but I’m also doing TV shows and a haunted house in L.A. Having Paranormal and it allowing my company to expand in all things genre, I feel really lucky. Has the Paranormal franchise gotten a bad rap, a reputation it doesn’t deserve? It’s been so successful and the more these sequels charge on the more complaints you hear about found footage, or sequel fever, and all that. I’m sort of proud of the way the franchise has evolved. We’ve taken directors with very specific visions – Kip Williams was a real art house director and Henry and Rel who did 3 and 4 did Catfish . All the directors of the sequels of Paranormal , none of them had ever done genre movies before. And not that we would do that or not do that specifically going forward, but I feel that’s kept it fresh. The way each sequel has built on what’s come before and evolved the mythology has been fresh, but how much can you keep innovating? How much more difficult does it then become to find a new angle for the next one? The cool thing about Paranormal is now we have a real built-in mythology, of the demon and the family that the demon has upset, so it allows for a lot of places to go. And obviously technology changes so fast, so found footage can shift. Paranormal Activity 4 uses Skype webchat technology, which is new to movies – but it was also used recently in V/H/S . I did see that in V/H/S . It’s an interesting coincidence, that both of these films picked up on that same emerging technology at the same time. Sure. And I think I’ve seen it in some other movies too. I think because Skype is becoming so much more prevalent and you’re looking at someone else on a screen it’s going to work its way into movies and TV shows in all different ways, which I think is really cool. Where do you go from there? In this franchise alone you’ve gone through film, video, home movies, now Skype – are cell phone cameras and iPads and the rearview camera on my Prius next? I hope so! I think surveillance, and cameras are so prevalent everywhere that it allows for different possibilities for found footage. I wish I could see the future but I can’t, but I do think that cameras are everywhere now, and they’re so inexpensive. That’s a great thing. I read an interview where someone said “It’s a shame that anyone can make a movie now” and I feel the exact opposite. It’s much less cost-prohibitive… and to answer your question, that will allow Paranormal hopefully to grow and be different each time out. You came across Paranormal Activity early on, and that was a case in which the film was almost curated and then brought into the mainstream consciousness. The idea of discovering a micro-budget independent film and having that platform to bring it to audiences, is that a formula that’s easy to replicate — and is that even your plan at this stage? A hundred percent. I saw Paranormal as a rough cut, but I felt my job on Paranormal and my job on Sinister weren’t wildly different. I’m proud of Sinister because Scott and Cargill did a great job on the movie and I set up a framework for them to make what they wanted to make. They gave me the idea and I figured out how to get it out into the world. Oren did the same thing. I don’t have any aspirations to be a writer or director; I really like identifying a story or a pitch, whether it’s a script or a rough cut of a movie that resonates with me, and trying to get it out into the world. That’s what our company does and that’s what, personally, I’m passionate about. That’s kind of our mission. This is a big question, but: What is the state of horror cinema now, in your eyes? The realm of independent horror and studio-released mainstream horror are divided, with independent original stories balancing against studio-released sequels and remakes. Where do you feel you stand in the grand scheme of it all? I feel the state of horror cinema is the same as it’s been for the last ten or 20 years. When there’s a great horror movie, people are like, “Horror’s back!” And when there’s a series of not so good ones, “Horror’s dead.” I think it’s all about the quality. When there are one or two good horror movies in a row, people come out interested again. I think our company’s specific role is that we straddle both of those worlds. We make all of our movies independently – with the exception of the sequels of Paranormal – but Sinister , Insidious , and the first Paranormal Activity were made completely outside of the studio system but then distribution is through the studio system. Paranormal Activity was the model for what my company does, from that experience. For me, and I can’t speak to other people, it’s the best of both worlds. We get to make these movies with the director’s vision and a singular vision, and to me that’s the definition of an independently made film – it’s one person’s vision. The movies that our company is involved with have the director’s vision, and then we get the great benefit of studio distribution – which no one has figured out a way to compete with. Maybe in five years someone will but at the moment it’s virtually impossible to compete with the studios in terms of distribution. You’ve used the word “independent” to describe your films, but when I think of indie horror I think of the You’re Next and V/H/S filmmakers. They seem to be in a separate camp within the world of indie horror, while you tend to bring in directors from outside the genre community and work with studios. Do you see that as a distinct separation? From a consumer’s point of view I don’t think there’s a separation. You’re Next is going to come out wide from Lionsgate. I loved the movie, I think it’s a terrific movie. I think it’s a very commercial movie. It’s going to be released by a studio and was made independently, so I don’t think from a consumer’s perspective it’s radically different from the movies we’re doing. You have identified something; we tend to work with directors who have a few movies under their belt. You’re opening a haunted house attraction in L.A. – The Blumhouse of Horrors. Where did that concept come from? It’s a great extension of what we’re doing in movies and TV – almost all of our movies shoot in L.A. and we work with the same crews, so we approached the haunted house as if it was a movie production. We got a big crew of people who’ve been prepping for about as long as it takes to prep a movie and we took over a building in downtown L.A. It’s going to be a really cool live experience that’s scary, and hopefully great. That sounds like a clever extension of horror culture, taking it off the screen. But horror cinema has been going increasingly meta in recent years – look at Cabin in the Woods , for example – and it already feels like the serpent is eating its tail. What happens after horror comes all the way full circle ? Boy, I wish I had the answer to that. I just love that people are into it and I’m just really passionate about exploring all different media to scare people, whether it’s a haunted house or a reality show or a scripted show or a movie, it’s a really fun, creative place to be playing in. But what eventually happens… your guess is as good as mine. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Jason Blum had produced a dozen projects before he hit upon 2007’s sleeper phenomenon Paranormal Activity , a micro-indie horror pic with no stars that in turn became the model for Blumhouse Productions, his own genre-leaning multimedia label. Fast forward just five years and Paranormal Activity 4 is set to continue the series’ low-budget thrills (with webcam technology!) next week, while the Blum-produced Sinister , about a writer (Ethan Hawke) contending with a house haunted by insidious forces, opens today. (For a third new venture, The Blumhouse of Horrors, Blum & Co. take over a historic theater in downtown Los Angeles. More info here .) Movieline caught up with the man behind many of the most profitable — and cost-effective — horror hits in recent memory for a peek behind the curtain: What’s the Blum secret to success? What was it that first interested you in Sinister , these filmmakers, and this story – and given your past horror projects, how do you think it fits into your portfolio? I’m super happy with the movie. I think it works because very simply [writer C. Robert] Cargill and [director Scott Derrickson] did a terrific job on it. They first pitched it to me a year and a half ago and the movie they first described to me in my office and the movie you’ll see are very close, they’re virtually the same thing. All I did was give these guys the creative freedom to make what they wanted to make. Your name has been so closely associated with the Paranormal Activity franchise and its success – how do you feel about being known for these particular films? I love genre movies. I’ve made a handful of other ones in addition to the Paranormal movies, and my favorite thing about what Paranormal allowed our company to do is that the company is based on this idea of betting on yourself. That’s what Oren Peli did on Paranormal Activity , that’s what James Wan did on Insidious , and that’s what Scott and Cargill did on Sinister . It’s given birth to all these movies and I’m really pleased that our company is associated with them. I’m really interested in genre, but I’m also doing TV shows and a haunted house in L.A. Having Paranormal and it allowing my company to expand in all things genre, I feel really lucky. Has the Paranormal franchise gotten a bad rap, a reputation it doesn’t deserve? It’s been so successful and the more these sequels charge on the more complaints you hear about found footage, or sequel fever, and all that. I’m sort of proud of the way the franchise has evolved. We’ve taken directors with very specific visions – Kip Williams was a real art house director and Henry and Rel who did 3 and 4 did Catfish . All the directors of the sequels of Paranormal , none of them had ever done genre movies before. And not that we would do that or not do that specifically going forward, but I feel that’s kept it fresh. The way each sequel has built on what’s come before and evolved the mythology has been fresh, but how much can you keep innovating? How much more difficult does it then become to find a new angle for the next one? The cool thing about Paranormal is now we have a real built-in mythology, of the demon and the family that the demon has upset, so it allows for a lot of places to go. And obviously technology changes so fast, so found footage can shift. Paranormal Activity 4 uses Skype webchat technology, which is new to movies – but it was also used recently in V/H/S . I did see that in V/H/S . It’s an interesting coincidence, that both of these films picked up on that same emerging technology at the same time. Sure. And I think I’ve seen it in some other movies too. I think because Skype is becoming so much more prevalent and you’re looking at someone else on a screen it’s going to work its way into movies and TV shows in all different ways, which I think is really cool. Where do you go from there? In this franchise alone you’ve gone through film, video, home movies, now Skype – are cell phone cameras and iPads and the rearview camera on my Prius next? I hope so! I think surveillance, and cameras are so prevalent everywhere that it allows for different possibilities for found footage. I wish I could see the future but I can’t, but I do think that cameras are everywhere now, and they’re so inexpensive. That’s a great thing. I read an interview where someone said “It’s a shame that anyone can make a movie now” and I feel the exact opposite. It’s much less cost-prohibitive… and to answer your question, that will allow Paranormal hopefully to grow and be different each time out. You came across Paranormal Activity early on, and that was a case in which the film was almost curated and then brought into the mainstream consciousness. The idea of discovering a micro-budget independent film and having that platform to bring it to audiences, is that a formula that’s easy to replicate — and is that even your plan at this stage? A hundred percent. I saw Paranormal as a rough cut, but I felt my job on Paranormal and my job on Sinister weren’t wildly different. I’m proud of Sinister because Scott and Cargill did a great job on the movie and I set up a framework for them to make what they wanted to make. They gave me the idea and I figured out how to get it out into the world. Oren did the same thing. I don’t have any aspirations to be a writer or director; I really like identifying a story or a pitch, whether it’s a script or a rough cut of a movie that resonates with me, and trying to get it out into the world. That’s what our company does and that’s what, personally, I’m passionate about. That’s kind of our mission. This is a big question, but: What is the state of horror cinema now, in your eyes? The realm of independent horror and studio-released mainstream horror are divided, with independent original stories balancing against studio-released sequels and remakes. Where do you feel you stand in the grand scheme of it all? I feel the state of horror cinema is the same as it’s been for the last ten or 20 years. When there’s a great horror movie, people are like, “Horror’s back!” And when there’s a series of not so good ones, “Horror’s dead.” I think it’s all about the quality. When there are one or two good horror movies in a row, people come out interested again. I think our company’s specific role is that we straddle both of those worlds. We make all of our movies independently – with the exception of the sequels of Paranormal – but Sinister , Insidious , and the first Paranormal Activity were made completely outside of the studio system but then distribution is through the studio system. Paranormal Activity was the model for what my company does, from that experience. For me, and I can’t speak to other people, it’s the best of both worlds. We get to make these movies with the director’s vision and a singular vision, and to me that’s the definition of an independently made film – it’s one person’s vision. The movies that our company is involved with have the director’s vision, and then we get the great benefit of studio distribution – which no one has figured out a way to compete with. Maybe in five years someone will but at the moment it’s virtually impossible to compete with the studios in terms of distribution. You’ve used the word “independent” to describe your films, but when I think of indie horror I think of the You’re Next and V/H/S filmmakers. They seem to be in a separate camp within the world of indie horror, while you tend to bring in directors from outside the genre community and work with studios. Do you see that as a distinct separation? From a consumer’s point of view I don’t think there’s a separation. You’re Next is going to come out wide from Lionsgate. I loved the movie, I think it’s a terrific movie. I think it’s a very commercial movie. It’s going to be released by a studio and was made independently, so I don’t think from a consumer’s perspective it’s radically different from the movies we’re doing. You have identified something; we tend to work with directors who have a few movies under their belt. You’re opening a haunted house attraction in L.A. – The Blumhouse of Horrors. Where did that concept come from? It’s a great extension of what we’re doing in movies and TV – almost all of our movies shoot in L.A. and we work with the same crews, so we approached the haunted house as if it was a movie production. We got a big crew of people who’ve been prepping for about as long as it takes to prep a movie and we took over a building in downtown L.A. It’s going to be a really cool live experience that’s scary, and hopefully great. That sounds like a clever extension of horror culture, taking it off the screen. But horror cinema has been going increasingly meta in recent years – look at Cabin in the Woods , for example – and it already feels like the serpent is eating its tail. What happens after horror comes all the way full circle ? Boy, I wish I had the answer to that. I just love that people are into it and I’m just really passionate about exploring all different media to scare people, whether it’s a haunted house or a reality show or a scripted show or a movie, it’s a really fun, creative place to be playing in. But what eventually happens… your guess is as good as mine. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
New York City officials are already teed off over Ken and Sarah Burns documentary The Central Park Five — but just wait until they see the poster for the headlines-generating film. The stark, black-and-white image simply, effectively — and immediately — communicates the idea that the scales of justice did not work for the five men who were convicted and later cleared in the racially charged 1989 Central Park jogger case that rocked the city. As I reported in early October, lawyers for the city of New York have subpoenaed notes and outtakes from the documentary, which Burns directed with his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband David McMahon, in order to determine whether the material can help them fight a federal civil rights lawsuit that five men filed nine years ago as a result of their experience. (Each of the five men is seeking $50 million.) The documentary, which was shown at the Cannes, Telluride and Toronto film festivals, scrutinizes the initial convictions of the Central Park Five — Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise — noting, for instance that the five men did not appear to be in the area of the park where the rape occurred, that their DNA was not found on the victim and that their confessions did not jibe with one another’s. As I also reported, the filmmakers are fighting the subpoena . Sarah Burns told me, “We’re not sure the city can subpoena us because we believe we’re protected by the shield laws” that allow journalists to protect their sources and research. In 2009, on the 20th anniversary of the incident, the lawyer for the five men, Jonathan Moore called their experience “the most racist prosecution that occurred in the City of New York. The city maintains that that cops and prosecutors acted appropriately. “We believe that based on the information that the police and prosecutors had at the time, they had probable cause to proceed, and the confessions were sound,” a city spokeswoman told the New York Times. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
