Empire Magazine (Australia) x Joshua Budich Pays Homage To The Best Auteurs Of Our World...

Joshua Budich is a very talented artist and certainly one I assume would be up to the task of creating a epic cover for a magazine. But when it comes to tackling the amount of talent that is present in the "Filmmaker" issue of Australia's Empire Magazine, it is definitely a challenge for any artist to get it just right. Budich nails it, not only featuring 7 top filmmakers on the cover (Copolla, Spielberg, Weedon, del Torro, Fincher, Lynch and Cameron) but also including interesting tidbits of art from past works of the auteurs. But Budich based his art choices on what these directors ACTUALLY contributed to this issue, so there are Easter Egg hints as to what is discussed right there on the cover! The final result is nothing short of amazing, pretty much as good as a Mondo poster in its entirety. The issue is packed full of contributions from everyone mentioned above, as well as even more... I HAVE to get my hands on a copy of this magazine! You can enjoy the beautiful cover in its full glory after the jump...

Fuck Censorship!!!! C'mon Britain, Your Better Then This...

I am a big fan of Empire Magazine, and since I can't always get it on the newsstand (I know, I should just subscribe) I often read it online. My buddy Jeff Bond sent me a really cool article that Empire just ran discussing the fact that Britain's movie rating body has ruled 'The Human Centipede II' as obscene, therefore making the movie illegal to posses & sell in the country in both theaters and on DVD. This is 2011, so you can imagine how shocked I am about something like this. Who the fuck do these people think they are???

Listen, I understand the need for a ratings system. I also understand that certain stuff shouldn't be shown to kids. But to ban something in it's entirety making it impossible to be seen by fans who are of age seems to be ridiculous. How can they do something like this? Slap an XXX rating on it, make it hard for theaters to want to show it since it will have lots of restrictions, do whatever you want... but ouright banning it? That's just medieval. Not to mention how much of a dick these guys looked like by HOW they announced it. Check this shit out.

Oooohhhh... thats how it works. Interesting.

In their statement about the ruling of The Human Centipede Pt II, these douche nuggets revealed a ton of spoilers about the upcoming horror flick to justify why they reached the decision to ban the film. The problem with that is that director Tom Six and the rest of the cast & crew has kept details about the upcoming sequel under tight wraps... until these assholes blabbed key plot points in their ruling statement. So not only did these guys make it impossible for people in Britain to see the film, but they also have ruined it by talking about what is in the film!!! Are you kidding me? What the fuck.

Tom Six & the new psycho, Boxhead

I won't publish any of the spoilers that the Board revealed about the film, but director Tom Six reached out to  Empire to offer a response to the ruling film body in Britain. Here it is:

“Thank you BBFC for putting spoilers of my movie on your website and thank you for banning my film in this exceptional way. Apparently I made an horrific horror-film, but shouldn't a good horror film be horrific? My dear people it is a f****cking MOVIE. It is all fictional. Not real. It is all make-belief. It is art. Give people their own choice to watch it or not. If people can't handle or like my movies they just don't watch them. If people like my movies they have to be able to see it any time, anywhere also in the UK.”

That is extremely well said. The board could have just said that their reasoning was based on sexually graphic & violent behavior in the film... they did not need to get into specifics. What a bunch of pompous dickheads. The best part is that by doing this, the Board has pretty much RAISED the awareness of the film and will probably encourage even more people to see it. That's the way it works. You take something away from people and they want it more. Didn't these guys ever see Footloose? I was a fan of the original, and I can't wait for the sequel. You can click here to read the whole Empire story online for more details. Are you going to check this movie out? What do you guys think about this whole controversy? Tell us in the comment section below!!!

Best Motivational Poster... Ever!!!

Alan Rickman Shows Why He Is One Of My Favorite Actors Ever

I have loved Alan Rickman ever since I first saw him as a Hans Gruber in Die Hard. He has gone on to make some amazing movies, from playing the voice of God Metatron in Dogma to The Sheriff of Nottingham in Costner's Robin Hood. But for the last 10 years he has forged a career as Severus Snape, teacher of a little wizard by the name of Harry Potter. For a generation of kids who grew up on the Potter books and movies, Snape (and therefore Rickman) will always be in their hearts as a truly conflicted character who is quite complicated and just as important to the story as Harry himself. With the last Potter movie almost upon release, Rickman recognizes just how important this role has been and he took out a full page advertisement in Empire Magazine to say goodbye to the Harry Potter franchise and a big Thank You to author JK Rowling. A classy gesture from a classy man. Here it is for your enjoyment:

The '3 Amigos' Reunite In Empire Magazine

This month's issue of Empire Magazine features an article about the 25th anniversary of 'The 3 Amigos'. For those of you who live under some sort of a rock this is one of the funniest movies of my childhood (my opinion of course) and features Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short when they were in their primes. It was also directed by John Landis (we love him here at CCD!!!), so I had to bring this article to everyones attention. The bit in the movie about the meaning of the word "plethora" has always been one of my favorites. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:



Here are the pics that were included in the mag as well as a quick video from the photo shoot. Did you love the 3 Amigos back in the day? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!