I can understand the fascination with bringing video games to the big screen. After all we’ve seen so many successful translations of games to Hollywood blockbuster that it only makes sense to keep doing it, right? Sure it does.

Anyway, you can count the classic game Myst as yet another attempt by Hollywood to cash in on the Billlions of dollars video games generate each year. The top-selling computer adventure of all time, Myst has been has been optioned by Producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson with partners Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman.

“Our aim with this project is to stretch the genres it operated within, much like the source material did,” Vanderbosch said in the article. “It is such an innovative property and by utilizing the novels as our primary resource, we have the opportunity to offer audiences the essence of MYST without being limited only to the famous island of the first game. Our focus has always been on creating an entirely new visual experience driven by engaging characters and an epic narrative.”

In addition, Johnson, the producer of the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, hopes is to bring the fantastic world of Myst to life as was done with Narnia. One focus of the film will reportedly center around a human who comes to the world of Myst and inadvertently brings down the civilization.

The project is currently out to potential writers and once a suitable script is done the next step is to find a director and get the project set up at a studio. We’ll keep you posted.

Harrowing is the word that keeps coming to mind every time I think about this nasty little Spanish thriller, also known as Secuestrados.   It’s a nail biter from the opening long-cut sequence to the shocking conclusion.

The film begins with a bloodied man in a business suit (with a white plastic bag tied over his head) desperately trying to catch a breath of air as he stumbles toward a road.  Since he can’t see, he walks right into oncoming traffic, and ends up on the hood of a car.

The horrified driver assists him in removing the bag, and the man pleads for the driver to call his house. He tries to warn his daughter not to let anyone in and to call the police. It’s too late, his daughter says, they are already there, and they have shot mom… The entire opening is filmed in one continuous take, and it is tense as hell.

Next up we see a (different) man and his family moving into their beautiful contemporary home.  Wife Marta (Ana Wagener) directs the moving crew on where to deliver boxes, and has planned a celebratory family night to settle into their posh new home. Daughter Isa (Manuela Vellés) has opted for a night out with her boyfriend instead.

Before the two can resolve their differences, their familial bickering is silenced by a trio of home invaders who forcefully and swiftly let it be known that they mean business. One takes off with dad Jaime (Fernando Cayo) in order to drain his bank account at the ATM.

That leaves Marta and Isa to fend for themselves against the terrifying thugs who brutalize and torment the women over the course of the evening.

The film takes place in real-time, and makes great use of split screen during some of the excruciating scenes. The rest of the scenes are shot as single uncut shots, so the audience gets to experience the sequence of events as the characters do. It’s a unique approach, particularly when coupled with the split screen.

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There are plenty of bad films being made today. Some are original, some are remakes or “reboots”. Some put it’s script forward as the strong point, and some rely on the acting. The newest trailer for November’s Skyline proves that this film is none of the above. Expect to get nothing but purely astounding visual effects from this film.

Directed by visual effect pros Colin and Greg Strause and written by visual effect pros Joshua Cordes and Liam o’Donnell, the film will obviously be very heavy on the CG effects. It’s one thing when a film is poised to be astounding in writing or acting, but anyone who has seen a trailer for Skyline knows to expect a 90 minute science fiction thrill ride.

The premise is about strange lights descending on L.A., drawing people in before sucking them up into the sky. All the while, gigantic ships, creatures, and robots threaten to destroy the Earth as we know it.

The teaser that hit about a month ago only gave us a taste, but this newer trailer is sure to envelope us in the world of Skyline and all of it’s CG science fiction glory. Check out the new trailer after the jump, and be sure to catch the flick in theaters on November 12th.

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Exceptional writing, solid acting performances, and a refreshingly original premise elevate A Horrible Way To Die to the short list of must-sees from Fantastic Fest 2010. For a movie lover, there is nothing better than discovering a hidden gem in its pure state, before all the packaging and marketing sully the original vision.

Such was the case with this movie, which immediately emerged as one of my personal festival favorites. Writer Simon Barrett mines fresh territory in the serial killer genre by positing an intriguing premise; how would you move on with your life if your ex- boyfriend was a serial killer?

The story unfolds in a non-linear fashion, partially told in flashbacks. Sarah (played by Amy Seimetz) is a dental hygienist who is haunted by memories of her ex, who ended up being a Ted Bundy type serial killer. Understandably, she is crippled by self-doubt and insecurity because of her past, which makes a new relationship almost unthinkable. She regularly attends AA meetings.

Enter Kevin (Joe Swanberg), a sweetly awkward fellow addict who asks Sarah out. She tenuously accepts his invitation, and the two strike up a romance of sorts. Meanwhile, her ex escapes from prison during a routine transfer, and Sarah must come to grips with the fact that the man may be pursuing her. How will she share her dark secret with Kevin?

It’s a delicious spin on the whole serial killer sub-genre. The film slowly builds tension and lets us become familiar with the characters, so that when the twisty final act rolls around, it’s a real punch to the gut. Charismatic AJ Bowen (who also appeared in Hatchet 2, another Fantastic Fest movie) plays Sarah’s ex-boyfriend Garrick.

Like Mickey and Mallory in Natural Born Killers, Garrick has a rabid fan base that treats him like a celebrity. He gets fan mail and love letters when he is in prison and he has a facebook page and multiple websites dedicated to him.

It’s a chilling commentary on our current state of pop culture worship and our moral decline as a society. After all, we’ve already seen this type of behavior with Ted Bundy and multiple other serial killers; it’s hardly a far-fetched idea.

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With the last season of Smallville off to a rollicking good start, we snatched up the chance to sit down with Smallville long-time executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson. While they were a touch shy about spilling the Kryptonite on this season’s surprises, we never-the-less used our super strength to investigate the return of former cast members and historic episode 200 (set to air October 15th).

It seems this season will be strewn with super heroes and villains from across the galaxy.  Giving Kal-El a run for his money, Laura Vandervoort returns in brilliant blue and red style as Supergirl in episode 3, airing October 8th.

The Flickcast: Can you tell us about any plans to bring back favorite cast members from past seasons?

Brian Peterson: Having Annette O’Toole back as Martha Kent and Michael McKean as Perry White- we worked all season to get that to happen. It was fantastic, they were so great, it was such a great episode.

We’d like to, it’s hard because all of these actors, it’s not always up to us, like they have TV shows and careers and theater. You know Glover, we would love to have John Glover back and that man is on Broadway from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.

So, that’s our goal, absolutely, to try to get people like Perry, and Martha Kent, and Lionel Luther back, or at least maybe an appearance.

FC: Last season, Smallville‘s epic episode entitled, “Absolute Justice”, featured the monumental members of the Justice Society. Any talk of a Justice Society spin-off series? Will any members of the Justice Society be making future appearances this season?

BP: I know people are so excited about that and right now, to my knowledge, there are not (spin-off series). I think there’s always opportunities.

But as far as episodes, we’re definitely going to have some of the Justice Leaguers and Justice Society people back in the show for sure (check out episode 2). But as far as a spin-off, I wish that was something I could see into the future and know, but I don’t know.

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We don’t usually get into what people in Hollywood like to call the “executive shuffle” here at The Flickcast. In the entertainment industry, its usually much more interesting to discuss the machinations of the “creatives” instead of the people who are in charge of studios, networks and the like.

However, in the case of someone like Jeff Zucker who, it could be argued, basically destroyed any credibility NBC has as a network and pretty much offended most people with his handling of the Conan O’Brien / Jay Leno deal, the situation does warrant commentary. Fortunately, smarter and funnier people than us have already done what’s necessary.

In this new video from our friends at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Zucker is given a chance to tell his side of the story in a news conference/music video. Sadly for him, but great for us, things don’t go exactly as he planned.

Check out the video after the break.

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A few months ago, we first got word that director D.J. Caruso, who brought us such sci-fi thrillers as Eagle Eye and Distrubia was working on a brand new film based on the Pittacus Lore (aka James Frey & Jobie Hughes) book I Am Number Four. The film’s script comes from Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and brings together an interesting cast of up and coming actors.

Now, we’re getting the first taste of the film’s look and feel as the very first teaser trailer has hit the web. It definitely looks like something a bit different for Caruso, giving a bit of an Island meets Twilight vibe. Here’s the official synopsis, for those who want it spelled out.

Nine infant aliens, who closely resemble humans, flee their home planet, Lorien, to hide on Earth. An invading species, the Mogadorians, have destroyed their planet, and follow them to Earth to hunt them down. Each of the nine aliens is given a guardian and will develop superhuman powers as they become adults. They are each assigned a number. These last children of Lorien can only be killed in the sequence of their numbers.

Number Four, also named John Smith, moves to Paradise, Ohio, disguised as an American high school student. He makes a friend, Sarah, a sweet Midwestern girl who is a photographer. After being on the run his whole life, Number Four falls in love and now has something to stand up and fight for.

The film joins Beastly star Alex Pettyfer, Glee’s Dianna Agron, Timothy Olyphant, and Legion’s Kevin Durand. Check out the full trailer after the jump, and catch I Am Number 4 in theaters on February 18th, 2011.

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By Shannon Hood and Jane Almirall

Shannon: It was all interviews, all day. First up was director Jim Mickle from Stake Land, along with actors Nick Damici and Connor Paolo.  What a great group of guys.  The trio were there to promote their post apocalyptic road/vampire movie.  Look for the interview and a review of Stake Land in the next week or so.

Our second interview of the day was with director Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen, and Hatchet 2) along with Danielle Harris and Kane Hodder for Hatchet 2.  This was an exciting interview for me.  I’m a big Adam Green fan, and I’ve been watching Kane Hodder in horror movies since the late eighties.

Press day wrapped up with a chat with the Australian director Josh Reed, actress Qwen Boylan, and actor Wil Traval, who were discussing their IFC featured film Primal. All three interviews and film reviews will be published as soon as we can get them up.

Jane: The Housemaid 1960  Digitally remastered, this film is a slowly-paced, stylized tale of a prosperous family and their mentally unstable housemaid.  Characters manipulate, lie, plot and psychologically torture one another after the father conducts an impulsive affair with the maid, the consequences of which escalate out of control.

I must confess, the overly dramatic acting style made this feature a bit of a slog to get through, but a surprising twist at the end paid off in a big way.

Hatchet 2 (directed by Adam Green starring Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris.) This film plays like a cinematic love letter to the slasher films of the 80′s – the horror movies of my childhood that I grew up loving.  Many horror film icons turn up as characters as Marybeth and Victor Crowley square off for mutual retribution, resulting in the kind of revolting gore and over the top violence that fans of Hatchet have come to expect from Adam Green. Hatchet 2 features some inventive and disgusting kill scenes (FUN!) and in defiance of censorship will be released as an unrated feature.

Jack Chop (directed by Adam Green.) This short film was the bumper preceding Hatchet 2 – which nicely set the tone for the somber exercise in minimalist restraint that was the main feature.  I kid!  This 3 minute, mock-infomercial for a jack ‘o lantern carving kit was a gory, goofy bit of slapstick – in the vernacular of the director, it was wicked awesome.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt explore a host of new topics worthy of discussion and debate. This time around they take on more about the new TV season including the premieres of Smallville, Community and 30 Rock.

They also discuss various other topics including the recent trailer for True Grit, Tron Legacy, The Walking Dead and the NBC/Netflix deal. Of course, Chris and Matt also made some new picks this week including Matt’s pick of the FX show The League and Chris’ pick of Gareth Edward’s film Monsters.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

As if all the awesome first person and co-op gameplay wasn’t enough, one of the most anticipated first person shooters hitting stores this year is also going to feature some of the greatest bad guys to ever grace a video game: zombies. That’s right folks, Treyarch and Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops will, in addition to all the other great features we’ve already told you about, also feature the fan-favorite “zombies” feature.

“Zombies have been such a hit with our community that we were committed to bringing brand new zombie experiences to Call of Duty: Black Ops,” says Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia. “We’ve taken extra special care to retain the essential ingredients of our Zombie game, and have also crafted a nice surprise for the fans.”

This news follows the announcement of four updated co-op maps from Call of Duty: World at War will be part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige and Hardened Editions, along with the premium edition Steelbooktm Case, custom Black Ops limited edition medal and an exclusive Black Ops Avatar outfit.

Call of Duty: Black Ops hits stores on November 9th. You can also pre-order the game right now.

While things are a bit shaky in terms of what we’re calling the newest Mission: Impossible film, one thing is for sure: the cast is going to kick ass. Hawkeye himself, Jeremy Renner joined the cast a few weeks back, which was already headed by returning Cruise, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg, and the newly added Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q.

Now, a brand new face of awesome is jumping in, as LOST star Josh Holloway has been signed to join Cruise’s new team of super spies. This marks Holloway’s first major role since leaving the island, or dying, or staying in purgatory, or however you want to interpret that ending.

Between this cast, Incredibles director Brad Bird taking the helm, and J.J. Abrams supplying the story, there is very little room for this film to fail, or at least we hope. Megastar Cruise even took a pay cut in order for this film to get made, so it has that going for it.

The movie is set to go into production before the end of the year, with a release date of December 16th, 2011. Expect to hear plenty more news coming out of this camp in the coming weeks as we lead up to principal photography.

After airing only two episodes the extremely low rated Fox series Lone Star has met its demise and been canceled by the network. Starting next Monday, Lone Star will be replaced by the surprise (at least to me) hit Lie to Me, which is having its premiere moved up to fill the gap left by Lone Star.

This shouldn’t come as any surprise given the ratings disaster that was Lone Star. Even with strong critical praise, It opened with a 1.3 rating. Not great for a show with as much press around it. Fox gave it one more chance but in its second airing the show actually slipped further in the ratings delivering a dismal 1.0 for the second outing. That pretty much closed the door on the show for good.

In the fallout of the Lone Star cancellation, Fox will move Human Target from Fridays to Wednesdays, taking over the slot originally given to Lie To Me which will now be on Monday. Lie to Me was to premiere on November 10 and run on Wednesday at 8 PM, leading into an one-hour Hell’s Kitchen.

Human Target will now premiere on November 17. A two-hour Hell’s Kitchen will air on November 10. Do you follow all that? We hope so. Are you sad to see Lone Star go? What do you think will be the next casualty of the Fall season?