Dark Shadows is the newest film by Hot Topic auteur Tim Burton, starring his ever-present whipping boy Johnny Depp. This time the source material is the beloved gothic soap opera that featured the likes of zombies, werewolves, witches, warlocks and even time-travel.

Dark Shadows ran for 1,225 episodes and really didn’t hit its stride till about a year into its run when it introduced the vampire Barnabas Collins and a cult classic was born. There was already a film adaptation of the show made back in 1970 titled House of Dark Shadows, which featured most of the original television cast and was more of a stand alone condensed version of the Barnabas storyline.

Now Tim Burton is giving us his interpretation of the series. While I am looking forward to it, I am definitely cautiously optimistic.

We have 25 passes for 2 to a screening Monday, May 7^th at the Ritz East, want a chance to win? Simply comment with your favorite Johnny Depp film by May 4^th and 25 folks will be picked at random. Passes will go out digitally that Sunday, in the meantime check out the trailer below!

No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating. (So please show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

Our Masters of the Universe screening is coming up this Friday, May 4^th at The Troc and when it came to putting together another event, one thing I really wanted was a really rad poster.

I know a lot of people really liked the one we did for Scott Pilgrim and as a poster collector I wanted the kind of poster I would put on my wall for the event. I contacted local Philly artist Haunt Love, who does the posters for Exhumed Films. He was more than happy to help out.

Here is a time lapse of the process of creating the poster. I think its a great look into how these things are made. The posters were a very limited run so if you want to snag one, the best advice I can give is show up in costume at the event.  So enjoy the video and see you at the event!

Before the advance screening some of you attended at the Rave of The Cabin in the Woods, I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with one of the stars of the film Fran Kranz. I have been a fan of Fran’s since Dollhouse and remember hearing about him getting the role in Cabin, and was really psyched for him and the film.

That was 3 years ago, since then he has done quite a bit. Dollhouse was canceled. He went on to do Much Ado about Nothing (also with Whedon), acted in Death of a Salesman on Broadway and raised over $100,000 for a film called Lust For Love on Kickstarter.

I got to chat with Fran about his career and asked if he was able to get his way into Whedon’s The Avengers.

I was a huge fan of Dollhouse, what was it like working on that show?  Were you happy with how it ended?

Yeah, people think it’s crazy to say, but I’m thankful to Fox for giving us a full two seasons. Do you know what I mean? Look at the end of the day, we knew where our ratings stood, we knew we were on Friday nights, we always kind of felt like the black sheep of the Fox family.

Obviously, we had to accelerate towards a conclusion and I think you can feel that and the budget was chopped in half. There were things that would not have been done if we were given another season for sure. I’m just thankful that it got an ending because it allowed for my character to have, I think, this very beautiful journey.

Topher began as this kind of amoral, seemingly insensitive, sort of wise-ass tech genius or whatever. A lot of people, I know Whedon fans thought I was really annoying, you know? And I meet a lot of fans that now say “I hated you at first and now you’re my favorite character.”

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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol hit Blu-ray and DVD last week, and our pals over at Redbox were kind enough to hook us up with a copy to giveaway here on the blog. Thanks guys!

Unfamiliar with the film? Shame on you. Here’s the summary.

No plan. No backup. No choice. Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his elite team (Jeremy Renner, The Avengers and Simon Pegg, Star Trek) go underground after a bombing of the Kremlin implicates the IMF as international terrorists. While trying to clear the agency’s name, the team uncovers a plot to start a nuclear war. Now, to save the world, they must use every high-tech trick in the book. The mission has never been more real, more dangerous, or more impossible.

Get it? More impossible?

MI: Ghost Protocol was easily the best action flick I saw last year, and I was fortunate enough to catch it at the Franklin Institute. If you haven’t seen it, now’s your chance.

To enter, just leave a comment about your favorite moment in the Mission Impossible film series. I’ll choose a random one of you at the end of next week, and you’ll score a copy of the DVD, as well as a poster from Redbox.

Curious about where you can score rentals via Redbox? You can search for a Philadelphia location near you right on their website.

Meeting Evil, which opens Friday, May the 4th, is the new film starring Nick Fury Samuel L. Jackson and Luke Wilson. The official synopsis goes something like this:

When John Fleton, a depressed suburban family man and recently fired realtor, offers to help a stranger, Richie, with his car, John is sucked into a surreal, nightmarish murder spree that forces him to question everything about his life, his mode of behavior, and the very nature of evil…

We have 25 pairs of passes to the film that will screen 7:30pm on Monday, April 30^th  at the Ritz East. Want a chance to see Meeting Evil ahead of everyone else? Simply comment with your favorite Sam Jackson line by Sunday the 29^th and 25 of you will be picked at random to check the film out.

Just be sure to put your REAL name in the fields so I can add you and a guest to the guest list. Good luck and enjoy the trailer!

Last week I got to sit down and chat with Ti West about his upcoming release The Innkeepers, which hits Blu-ray and DVD today. I was a huge fan of The House of the Devil and loved The Innkeepers, the story of two geeky hotel employees who are determined to prove the inn they work at is haunted days before it closes. I

Ti fares from Wilmington, Delaware, where growing up he would often come to Philadelphia to enjoy our theaters. Ti is a very humble guy who was very candid about his thoughts on The Innkeepers, his career, piracy and bed bugs.

Oh and if you’re in Philly, check out The Innkeepers DVD release party on Wednesday, April 25th at 8pm thanks to Awesome Fest.  They will be screening the film and probably giving away some great prizes.

The Innkeepers is your fifth horror film in a row. Do you feel comfortable as a genre director or would you eventually want to do other kinds of films?

The time is running out on the horror movie train. I just wrote a movie for a job that I may make, and then I have a job doing an adaptation of a novel. I kind of made a promise to myself after that, if its not a job that comes to me to make a horror movie I am not going to write them for a while in my spare time.

It’s not because I have turned on it or anything, its just I am starting to feel like I am repeating myself.  I have this werewolf movie I am trying to get made, I have a sci-fi film that is almost getting made and I have another movie I am sort of quiet about that is seconds away from getting made and I am going to write that novelization out.

After doing all that, when you sit down and write “They walked slowly down the hallway”, you just kind of slap yourself in the head, because you’re like holy shit I need to take a step out of this and re-group. I am not uncomfortable being labeled that, but certainly you can only do something for so long till you do something else.

I’ve read The Innkeepers was based on some of your experiences shooting House of the Devil and staying at the actual Yankee Peddler you used in the film, could you tell me about that?

Yeah, well when we made House of the Devil we stayed at the Yankee Peddler, because it was a cheap hotel to stay in. All this weird stuff started happening, not so much to me but to the crew and the whole town is obsessed with it being haunted. So since we were there making this satanic horror movie, we would all be like “the real horror is at the hotel,” we would all goof.

But I wanted to make a ghost story, so I thought why don’t we make the one we lived. What if we went back to the actual place and made it there, I could write it specifically about that and that is what we did.

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In 2008, when Iron Man premiered on movie screens across the country, did anyone really think four years later we would all be anxiously counting down to an Avengers movie this May? I know I didn’t.

But somehow Marvel Studios pulled off the impossible; they created five interconnected, enjoyable movies that show the beginnings of the film version of the Marvel Universe. And all that hard work comes to a head on May 3rd, when The Avengers brings all the heroes together for a knock down, drag out blockbuster spectacular.

Lucky for us, someone decided that being able to watch all 6 movies in one sitting was a great idea. So on May 3rd, you will be able to watch Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers together in one theater. And in Philly, we actually have two options if a movie marathon like this makes you weak in the knees.

First, AMC Theaters will present all 6 movies starting at 11:30 AM on May 3rd. There are two locations you can see the marathon in this area, Neshaminy and Cherry Hill, and you get a special commemorative set of RealD 3D glasses (one of 4 Avengers themed designs). The whole shebang will cost you $40 and you will be one of the first to see The Avengers on the big screen.

Now, if you prefer something where you can get a meal and a drink while watching almost 14 hours of Marvel movie goodness, there is another option. Movie Tavern, located in the Providence Town Center in Collegeville, PA, is also running all six movies for only $35. The marathon starts at noon and, while you don’t get the cool 3D glasses, you can get a cold beer, so it’s up to you to decide what your priority is.

So there you have it; two different ways to experience the culmination of Marvel Studios road to the Avengers. Tickets are already selling out in some locations, so get you butt in gear, buy your tickets and yell “Avengers Assemble!”

AMC Theaters Ultimate Marvel Marathon
www.go.amctheatres.com/marvel

Movie Tavern Marvel Mania Marathon
www.movietavern.com/marvel-mania-marathon/2970

Do you brush off concern over minor injuries with “It’s only a flesh wound”? Do you have a fondness for shrubberies? Are you suspicious of rabbits? Can you debate the flight efficiencies of the African swallow versus its European counterpart?

Of course you do/are/can.

From April 27th through May 3rd, Monty Python and the Holy Grail will be shown at the Ritz at the Bourse. Yes. Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the big screen, fully remastered in high definition.

As a bonus, they’ll also be showing “Terry Gilliam’s Lost Animations,” a new 12-minute short feature.

Bring your own coconuts!

Monty Python and the Holy Grail @ The Ritz at the Bourse
Opening April 27th
400 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 925-7900
landmarktheatres.com/market/Philadelphia/RitzattheBourse.htm

Its been a while since we have had an unboxing of a special edition anything, so I thought I would bring that tradition back. The kind folks over at Dark Sky Films were nice enough to send me one of the limited editions of Innkeepers on Blu-rays to check out for Geekadelphia. How limited is this edition you ask? They made 500. Pretty damn limited if you ask me.

Look at these to hit eBay and surpass The House of the Devil VHS, Ti’s previous limited edition which is going for about $100 when it shows up from time to time. Where The House of the Devil VHS invoked one retro format The Innkeepers invokes another and is reminiscent of a record or a laser disc.

Check out the photos and thanks to Dark Sky films, we have not one but two copies of The Innkeepers regular edition Blu-ray to giveaway to two lucky readers. If you want to check out the film on the big screen, check out The Innkeepers DVD release party on Wednesday,  April 25th at 8pm.

Awesome Fest will be screening the film and probably giving away some great prizes! They might even have one of these to give away, you never know.

Want to win a copy? Simply comment with your favorite ghost film  by Sunday, April 29th and why and two readers will be picked at random to win The Innkeepers on Blu-ray!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

You like video games right? Sure you do. Well Tuesday, April 24th at 7pm they will be screening Indie Game: The Movie,  a documentary about indie game developers at the Ritz East.

The documentary, which was an official selection of Sundance, showcases several developers as they struggle to both develop and release their games. It’s the first high-profile feature length documentary about making video games and it’s a story all creators can identify with.

Tickets are $15 and can be picked up here, but use the code IGTMPHILA and get $3 bucks off your ticket! Check out the trailer below, but a word of warning there is some swearing in it, so you might not want to play if full volume at work.

CONTEST OVER! Okay geeks, the film we have been waiting for since it was announced back in 2008 is finally about to hit our screens Friday, May 4th. Marvel’s The Avengers. The ultimate culmination of Marvel’s rebooting of its super hero franchises is finally seeing the light of day, and I can’t wait.

If you haven’t seen Thor, Ironman 1+2, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk I think you have some homework to do. Marvel’s The Avengers is the endgame those films have been working towards since Iron Man hit and reinvigorated the Marvel superhero film franchise.

Without going into too much detail (I personally have been trying to avoid spoilers) we do know Loki is one of the villains and he is trying to take over the Earth with an unknown army. Now it is up to Marvel’s The Avengers, known for not getting along well with others, to unite and attempt to stop him.

We have 25 passes to an advance screening of the film May 1st, 4 days before the film opens to the public at the AMC Neshaminy Mall. Want a chance to win?  Simply comment by Friday the 20th with who your favorite Avenger is and why. The best/funniest answers will get a pass for 2 to see the film.

These passes will be going out snail mail so I will be contacting winners Saturday for mailing addresses, fail to get back to me by Saturday at midnight and the passes will be forfeited. In the meantime check out the trailer below.

No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating. (So please show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

If you saw Hugo (or you’re just a big film buff),  you are very aware of Georges Méliès classic film A Trip to the Moon.

It features one of cinema’s most unforgettable images…  the Man in the Moon being poked in the eye by a rocketship. The iHouse will be screening the newly restored colored version of the film with recorded musical accompaniment by Air as part of their Archive Fever series this Wednesday, April 18th at 7pm.

Preceding the film will be the new documentary The Extraordinary Voyage. The documentary charts Moon’s voyage from the fantastical Méliès’ production in 1902 to the premiere of the new restoration at Cannes in 2011.

Tickets are $9 and you can get more info here.