Tagged: Universal

An Unprecedented Perspective on Edgar G. Ulmer, by Michael H. Price

An Unprecedented Perspective on Edgar G. Ulmer, by Michael H. Price

I had mentioned Edgar G. Ulmer, the Grey Eminence of Old Hollywood’s Poverty Row sector, in last week’s column, attempting to draw a thematic similarity between Ulmer’s most vivid example of low-budget film noir, 1945’s Detour, and a newly opening picture called Stuck, from the dramatist-turned-filmmaker Stuart Gordon. The cause-and-effect response here was an urge to take a fresh look at Detour. Right about that time, the mail brought a copy of Gary D. Rhodes’ new book, Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty Row (Lexington Books; $85).

Gary Rhodes is a colleague of long standing, a filmmaker, educator and journalist whose work has intersected with mine on several fronts. Such Rhodes volumes as White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film and Horror at the Drive-In relate strategically to the Forgotten Horrors books that George E. Turner and I originated during the 1970s, and Gary and I have long acknowledged a shared interest in Ulmer (1904-1972) as a talent essential to any understanding of maverick moviemaking.

With Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty Row, Rhodes takes that interest to an unprecedented extent. Editor Rhodes and a well-chosen crew of contributing writers consider Ulmer in light of not only his breakthrough film, 1934’s The Black Cat at big-time Universal Pictures, or such finery-on-a-budget exercises as Bluebeard (1944) and Detour (1945), but also Ulmer’s tangled path through such arenas as sex-hygiene exploitation films (1933’s Damaged Lives), Yiddish-language pieces (1937’s Green Fields), well-financed symphonic soap opera (1947’s Carnegie Hall), and ostensible schlock for the drive-in theatres (1957’s Daughter of Dr. Jekyll).

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Dark Horse and Universal Announce Production Deal

Dark Horse and Universal Announce Production Deal

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment today announced an exclusive production and distribution agreement which effectively makes Universal the new home for all of Dark Horse’s film, television and comics properties for the next three years.

Specifically, this deal gives Universal the rights to all of the properties currently held by Dark Horse as well as anything that the company may want to aquire or develop in the future. It’s not a one-way street, however, as Dark Horse is able to tap into Universal’s vast financial and development resources to develop, finance and distribute projects of its own.

Of course, many of Dark Horse’s properties have already been made into films including The Mask, Barb Wire, Timecop and Mystery Men. In addition, Universal is currently behind the latest Dark Horse comic book project: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

Given this new deal one wonders if we might end up seeing feature film version of some of the most popular Dark Horse titles like Angel: After the Fall or or even Buffy: Season Eight? As a fan of both of those comics, I hope so.

‘Hulk’ Teaser Trailer Released

‘Hulk’ Teaser Trailer Released

Even though tomorrow is technically the day when the first trailer for The Incredible Hulk will be released, it appears as if someone at Universal is getting a little antsy. Why? Well, a few bits and pieces of the trailer are already posted over at MTV’s website.

This sneak-peek doesn’t reveal too much and mostly shows Ed Norton’s Bruce Banner in therapy, discussing some of his anger issues. It also has a few shots of soldiers running, a humvee smashing through a barricade and Banner’s eyes turning green which, of course, signals an appearance by everyone’s favorite green goliath.

Check it out:

 

Universal Goes Blu-Ray

Universal Goes Blu-Ray

As we reported previously, Toshiba decided to end HD-DVD so the format conflict between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is over with Blu-Ray coming out on top. Now, with HD-DVD not an option, Universal has decided to throw its hat completely into the Blu-Ray ring and release all of its High-Def content exclusively in the format.

This announcement leaves Paramount and Dreamworks as the only major players still releasing content on HD-DVD. On switching completely to Blu-Ray, Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Home Entertainment and Universal Digital, had this to say about the company’s decision:

"While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray. The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for high-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."

So, what does this mean for current and soon-to-be-released Universal titles already in the HD-DVD format? Who knows. Still, after this announcement, how soon will it be before Paramount drops HD-DVD as well? Nobody in Hollywood likes to hang out with a "loser" so I’ll bet its just a matter of days, not weeks, before we get the announcement. Of course, if we do, we’ll bring you all the details right here at ComicMix.

 

Happy 95th Anniversary, Universal

On this day in 1912, Carl Laemmle merged his movie studio, the Independent Moving Picture Company (IMP), with eight others, creating Hollywood’s first major studio, the Universal Film Manufacturing Company — later to become Universal Pictures Company. Universal would unintentionally give gigantic starts to other film companies, like not paying Irving Thalberg enough money to keep him from being lured away to MGM, or by refusing to pay a decent production fee to produce cartoons starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to a young up-and-comer named Walt Disney.

But still– any studio that can bring us Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Abbott and Costello, My Little Chickadee, Harvey, Touch Of Evil, The Sting, American Grafitti, Jaws, Animal House, E.T., Back To The Future, Jurassic Park, Columbo, McCloud, The Rockford Files, Conan, Darkman, They Live, Hulk, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, and enough Law & Order episodes to choke a horse deserves a round of applause.

We’ll even forgive them for Van Helsing and Howard The Duck.

In that spirit of self-improvement, here’s a little employee video from Universal that you might enjoy.

Harry Potter theme park coming

Harry Potter theme park coming

Nikki Finke reports that Warner Bros Entertainment and Universal Orlando Resort are teming up to bring "The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter" to Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in late 2009. The pair of studios are partnering to "create the world’s first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment" envisioned as a "theme park within a theme park".

Much more, including how Disney was frozen out of the negotiations, at the link. Bigger versions of the pictures are here. My only concern — did Thomas Kinkade do some of the preview art? Nah… Harry Potter’s probably too Satanic for him.

 

Second Sight to big screen

Second Sight to big screen

According the IMDB.com news wire, Universal may be making Second Sight into a feature film.  The series, which originally starred Sin City’s Clive Owen, is about a detective who wants to solve one last case before he loses his sight, all the while keeping his condition a secret from his colleagues.  There are, as yet, no stars attached to the film.